Judith Viorst has a funny way with

reality...which may be one of the rea-

sons why her previous books It s Hard

to Be Hip Over Thirty and llow Did 1

Get to Be Forty...and Other Atrocities.

are such beloved best sellers. She sim-

ply won t let u s forget the things we want

to. Indeed. she makes us look at life

and smile, laugh be glad and some-

times even believe that we are coping.

Here Judith Viorst applies her unique

wit to the subjects of love and guilt

and the meaning of life in a collection

of concise and charming commen-

taries that illuminate our common hu-

man experience. She touches upon the

many faces of love-- falling in love and

the end of love, husbandly love and

wifely love. neurotic love and star-

crossed love, and the special relation-

ship between love and shrimp. She

explores the secret sources of our

guilt spiritual guilt and exercise guilt,

intellectual guilt and no-fault guilt, and

the guilt so often inspired by visiting

mothers. And, finally, she searches for

the meaning of it all of Truth Happi-

ness, Sex Death, Courage, Compassion

and, of course, Complaining.

Funny and insightful, wise and hope-

tul, Love and Guilt and the Meaning of

Life, Etc. is vintage Viorst.