CALL ME ISHTAR

by Rhoda Lerman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 14, 1973

Ishtar, Queen of Heaven -- Vashti, Astoreth, etcetera, assumes human form once again, this time as a Jewish housewife in Syracuse where she wreaks havoc with her pubic feathers, aphrodisiac cupcakes, a demonic rock band which she manages, and -- finally -- a most public resurrection out of the coffin at her own funeral. In the guise of Women's lab, she attempts to overthrow the current worship of phallic gods and recapture the adulation she enjoyed in matriarchal days of old -- both in terms of society and vis-a-vis her own patriarchal husband, Robert Moses, naturally freaked-out by his witchy wife. Of course, the crowd refuses to believe miracles when it sees them, consigning her instead to the inevitable shrink or marriage counselor, until her teeth rot (bad sign) and she takes off with her son for other parts we know not of. A bouncy, tongue-in-cheek mythmash of The White Goddess and The Feminine Mystique, humorously trying to make literal the difficulties of being a goddess on earth; with a serious theme beneath, which in these times of sturm und drang between the sexes, makes one think, think, think.

Pub Date: Sept. 14, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION