Tough Girls Don't Knit and Other Tales of Stylish Subversion: And Other Tales of Stylish Subversion

The foibles, trends and incongruities of modern life receive a good-natured skewering in this collection of short essay-styled observations. Garmaise, Cockney-born, a former Canadian broadcaster who now lives in Manhattan, draws mainly on personal experiences that she has imprinted with personal panache. Owner of a handbag designated by her daughters as ``the cargo of shame,'' she defends shopping with originality--``The practice of buying things one cannot afford is a degradation of shopping''--and proposes interesting ways to view television: ``in the nude'' or ``while `tellyphoning' ''). Few current quirks, fads, media happenings escape the sharp eye of this wry advocate of individuality. (May)