Money: Lure, Lore and Literature.

Money: Lure, Lore and Literature is the product of a cross-disciplinary conference held at Hofstra University to examine the role of money in literature. The objective of the book is to connect what seem to John Louis DiGaetani, editor of the volume and a professor of English, to be irreconcilable opposites: money and art. He asserts the former exists only in the realm of the concrete, while the latter inhabits the realm of dream and fantasy. DiGaetani argues that money is a "very slippery and complex subject . . . a term very hard even to define." The confusion arises because the definition of money depends on the context in which it is used. DiGaetani's conundrum is solved by recognizing that the authors in this collection, most of whom are not economists, use the term money to mean variously medium of exchange, currency, income and wealth. The incongruity between money and art disappears if we adopt this broader, though questionable, definition of money. As this book demonstrates, money broadly defined provides a fertile ground for artists as well as economists.

These definitional criticisms aside, the assembled essays ably illustrate money as a theme in literature and provide some interesting comments on money in culture and history. The twenty-three papers are presented in five sections: Money, Language and Culture; Money and History; Money and Russian and American Literature; Money and French Literature; and Money and English Literature.

The first section includes the most diverse group of essays. This section opens with Robert Leonard's discussion of the language used to describe money, e.g., dollars, pounds, shillings. The author traces names through time and across languages. Michael J. Haupert's essay provides an overview of money as a medium of exchange with an excellent nontechnical discussion of the concept of prior probability of acceptance. Richard Doty's contribution describes the activities of counterfeiters and the efforts of governments to protect the value of coins and currency. Other papers discuss money as a motivator, the money trail associated with the illegal drug market, and the creation of wealth.

Essays in the second section focus on three historical events: First, Clifton Potter examines the use of coins bearing the visage of Elizabeth I as a tool to reestablish confidence in her government. Thomas Luckett then examines the consequences of the shortage of money during the Stamped-Paper Revolt. Finally, Andrew Economopoulos explores the ability of bank customers to distinguish between "good" banks and "bad" banks by using evidence from the antebellum banking market, during which there were significant differences between banks, an absence of banking insurance, less regulatory oversight and frequent failures.

The final three sections of the book primarily examine the theme of money in the literature of specific authors. Some of these essays are less accessible to readers not familiar with the specific works discussed. Of these fourteen essays, two provided the most interesting reading. In "The Ultimate Seduction: Money and French Literature," Alex Szogyi traces the history of money as a theme in French theater from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. In this genre, money plays varied roles through time and attitudes toward money change. Szorgyi suggests that the financier Godeau for whom all the characters of Balzac's Mercadet ou le faiseur are waiting may be the inspiration for Beckett's play. Vanessa Dickerson examines money in the works of nineteenth century women writers in "Feminine Transactions: Money and Nineteenth-Century British Women Writers." Women of this period had few financial property rights; their husbands controlled their incomes and their wealth. In order to survive, some of the authors discussed by Dickerson as well as the characters challenged their traditional role. Dickerson's discussion hints at the issues that later would become the foundation of the women's movement, such as comparable pay, inheritance rights and laws governing child custody.

Gail Heyne Hafer Lindenwood College