cover image Famous in America

Famous in America

Peter N. Carroll. Dutton Books, $17.95 (340pp) ISBN 978-0-525-24363-2

Despite diverse ideologies and the different directions of their careers, it is the shared qualities of these four peopleambition, aggression and political activismthat are explored by Carroll (It Seemed Like Nothing Happened, etc.). Recounted in four chronological stages, each story serves to illustrate aspects of our society and the transformation of values that occurred in the subject's lifetime. The author recalls the prestige of the technological triumphs demonstrated by space exploration which led astronaut Glenn to enter politics; the civil rights struggle as it impinged on Wallace's career and was affected by him; the fervid anti-communist, ultra-conservative trends represented by Schlafly; and the combination of Hollywood glamour and social militancyas feminist, sex symbol and physical fitness advocateepitomized by Fonda, whose activism, contends the author, presaged the election of an actor to the presidency. Of the four accounts, that of Wallace's personal and political life is most forcefully rendered. Photos not seen by PW. January 15