European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bookshop recaps travels with his troupes done to shoot its Only me by Bob Hope with Melville Shavelson . Putnam a sons 320 pp., $19.95 Lawrence Christon the subtitle of Bob Hopes seventh Book a a Bob Hopes comedy history of the United states a is misleading. Strictly speaking this is not a comedy history of America but of Hopes place in it which begins with his peso Dent hour radio show in 1938 and ends with a Madison Square Garden concert with George bums in 1989. In Between Hope spent 44 Christmas seasons taking his show on the Road in nearly every major combat theater from Europe in world War ii to the persian Gulf. Hope has led a remarkable life. He a outlived virtually All of the politicians generals and National leaders a most of whom he a met a who had a hand in shaping the world from the 1930s through the cold War. And he a outlasted most of the comedy Peers who moved from vaudeville to radio to movies and television with him. Most of this Book is Given Over to his travels to the troops and their dangers he once crash landed in Australia his hotel was bombed in Berlin and Only the mis timing of a Detonator saved his troupe from being blown up in front of its Saigon hotel by the Viet Cong. There have been any number of Hollywood performers and celebs who have gone out to Sis Ken George Bob Hope skilfully dances around his personal life in his new Book. Entertain the troops Over the years but Hopes Tours have been the most famous. He got to obscure places such As Pavulu and Bonica first and he always lined up a powerhouse roster of starlets singers professional beauties and musicians to lighten the misery and homesickness of men and women at War. He brought them a slice of americana a the pretty women the Romance of american pop songs and his own sardonic gliding Quality that made it seem As though you could laugh your Way through anything that he was the first to parlay his appearances into radio and to shows could not Hurt his reputation either. Nobody in show business has seen As much As Hope. There Are numerous references to the physical suffering he witnessed such As a hospitalized i smiling through a face streaming with blood or starving japanese looking for food scraps outside an okinawan base. But there is a stale second hand Quality to this Book a kind of lengthy generic Bob Hope monologue that oils it with a celebrity slickness. Hope May think he is offering comic Relief by including excerpts from nearly every comedy routine he performed in a major combat zone but that is different from putting a comic mask on an unbearable sight or finding a comic Angle on pain. When not replaying old monologue bits for us Hopes cursory reportage on major political developments is often angled for a punch line or a dated reference or Bot which characteristically reads like this a if you were paying attention you May remember that the vietnamese War finally ended in an agreement neither Side intended to Honor. It was like one of Zsa Zsan a  although Hope Points out that the troops always except for one Date in Vietnam were a captive and enthusiastic audience which calmed his insecurity and that there were times when he feared for his life there a Little to reveal anything going on inside the Man. Hope offers an unwittingly self revealing clue in this Book when he quotes Milton Berle a line a Bob Hope has four children two of whom he knows  the Book does no to help us know him any better. In retrospect it is As though when Leslie Townes took on the Persona of Bob Hope he abandoned his private self and with it his capacity for individual perception. What else could explain How such an extraordinary life could be borne away on such an empty Breeze Lawrence Christon writes Tor los Angeles times. The Book will be available at stars and stripes bookstores. Reviews Dave Barry Dave Barry turns 40 by Dave Barry Crown 179 pp., $16.95 like most baby Boomers i never thought that members of the Woodstock nation would get old. Yet we Are slamming face first into our 40s. And who better to prepare us for in his words the Joys of Geezer Hood than forty something Dave Barry whose earlier ruminations on parenting Home ownership and dog training have left me helpless with laughter. Barry lets his wit run free in his discussion of every aspect of Middle age. He occasionally drops a few inside jokes. Witness the hip chapter title a politics after 40 you done to need a Weatherman to know that harsh sunlight can harm your by we a  but his gift is in run on forever sentences with elaborate descriptions and fantastic exaggerations that turn a split second act into an epic a and remain right on target. It does no to get any better than this. Kasey Jones Baltimore Sun the Quincunx by Charles Palliser Ballantine 788 pp., $25 this Long Book written in the 19th Century language of Charles Dickens has a plot so dense it takes 3 v2 pages just to list the characters. Yet it is a literary Success and has made several Best seller lists. The novel weaves a twisting mysterious tale of five families feuding Over the inheritance of an English estate. It takes the Reader into the 19th Century English Countryside and the teeming fog shrouded streets of London telling an epic Story of greed vengeance and Youthful self discovery. The Story revolves around John Huffamn a Pursuit of his inheritance. Various members of five families would Benefit from the boys and he is forced to grow quickly from spoiled country boy to resourceful wily Street Urchin. A Quincunx incidentally is four objects in a Square with a fifth object in the Middle and refers to the families heraldic Coats of arms. As one critic said a at its Best a the Quincunx is magnificent a gripping and beautifully written. You want it to go on forever and of course it pretty Well  Jessica Baldwin associated press the Joy Luck club by Amy Tan Ivy books $5.95 in paperback in her Best Selling novel Amy Tan explores one of the key themes of contemporary american literature the clash Between the traditional culture of parents raised in a foreign country and the americanized lives of their children. In this Case the struggle is among four elderly women and their daughters to strike a balance Between the chinese past and the american present. Before each of the younger women can establish an identity she must come to terms with her Mother and the influence of a past so alien to contemporary experience it seems like fiction. Tanks characters Are so Well realized that they give the Book the tone of an Oral history of China. Readers can learn a lot about the country by following the women a individual stories. Charles Solomon los Angeles times All books Are or will be available in stars and stripes  8 c sunday june 24, 1990