NONFICTION - June 6, 1993

A WOMAN’S WORTH by Marianne Williamson (Random House: $17; 143 pp.). A friend whose judgment I trust implicitly swears that Marianne Williamson, guru to the stars, is fabulous in person--funny, frank, inspiring, a formidable force. More power to her. In print, sorry to say, she is redundant, sometimes trite, and transparently a writer for the upper middle class woman alone. This is supposed to be a call to arms: Goddesses all, we have to stop thinking of ourselves as second-class citizens. What helps us realize our “mystical forces”? “Children help. Sunsets help. Good men help. The beach helps. Reading about women who have been great in their field helps. Meditation helps. Prayer helps.” Sure--if you have lots of time on your hands to be at the beach and read and meditate and watch the sunset. Working mothers might add, On-site child care helps. National health insurance helps. Pay parity with men helps. Williamson makes valid points along the way about what’s wrong with the world today, but would Betty Friedan consider any of this news? What’s new, perhaps, is Williamson’s focus, which is inward, and, some would argue, isolating.