Changing History: Women, Power, and Politics

Ferraro partisans will find useful nuggets in this collection of speeches--ranging from Ferraro's acceptance of the Democratic Vice-Presidential nomination in 1984 to addresses from 1992 and 1993--but to others the book may appear to be mostly political boilerplate. The author suits her subjects to her occasions, discussing ethics at a college graduation, volunteerism before a Rotary club and Israel at a Jewish forum. Most interesting are speeches in which she shows some edge, examining anti-Italian bigotry, prejudice she experienced against herself as a young woman lawyer and what she has learned from her role as a mother (``Anyone who can get a six-, a four-, and a two-year-old to share has the skills it takes to later succeed in Congress.'') Her stump speeches from her unsuccessful 1992 Senate campaign in New York don't always reach this level, suggesting that Ferraro is a hardworking but unexceptional campaigner. (Dec.)