White men aren't /

How are white men possible? DiPiero (French and visual and cultural studies, Univ. of Rochester) seeks to answer this question through a part theoretical and part historical analysis of how white men have been defined, idealized, and maintained as Western culture's hegemonic standard of measure. The author begins with a stimulating revisioning of Oedipus Rex, which he presents as paradigmatic of Western white masculinity. According to DiPiero, Oedipus raises the question "How can one also be many?" The author then explores masculinity's paradox across history and culture. Another chapter focuses on legal conceptualizations of masculinity disclosed by close readings of Kant, Montesquieu, Hobbes, Leibnitz, and others. Here DiPiero's discussion of the great chain of being and his reflection on the curious place of the Hottentots in Western thought are invaluable. Unfortunately, the author's use (in chapter 4) of the overexposed Jacques Lacan proves disappointing. Nonetheless, a concluding chapter analyzing the KKK and contemporary texts like the film Grand Canyon restores both the book's readability and its relevance. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, and faculty in the fields of gender studies, men's studies, anthropology, psychology, history, and literary theory. D. Seelow Nassau Community College