Making Sense

In a collection of her syndicated columns from the last three years, Goodman takes on a panorama of topics, from such personal observations as the predations of a bluejay in her back yard to a series of considerations on issues raised by the ``Baby M'' case. With good humor and focused intelligence, she often takes a step back from current affairs to offer an alternative perspective to the prevailing one. She observes that the story told by Sydney Biddle Barrows, the ``Mayflower Madam,'' has less to do with sex than entrepreneurship: ``It's about the joy of running your own business. The Story of B.'' Often reflecting on the roles and status of women in the workplace or at home, Goodman speaks in a consistently well-reasoned voice; she's impassioned but not blinkered, serious, not sober, and never glib when she's funny. Able to envision in co-ed dorms a nurturing place for a comfortable relationship between men and women who will one day work together, she can also worry about the loss of satisfaction for young lovers who, committed to career and personal potential, consider themselves in love ``for now,'' not forever. Reliably witty and original, Goodman proves to have both punch and staying power in these short essays. (Sept.)