European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 30, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Disclosures hot author Michael Crichton you can t make any kind of a joke at work. You can t make any kind of a personal comment and it has a it Leneo Naxhi Avor Michael Crichton and the Battle Between sexes byjoe Shetlin los Angeles times Michael Crichton looks like a Winner but feels like a , he stands to make million from his new novel dec sure just Ashe did with Jurassic Park rising Sun and other blockbusters. Yet to hear him talk he and other freethinkers face extinction in a fight for sum Val with feminists and the Pooh Bahs of political correctness. There s absolutely a chill in the workplace these Days Crichton says picking lint off his Armani suit and scowling Down at new York s Central Park 43 floors below his hotel suite. Everyone talks about it and no one likes it. You can t make any kind of a joke at work. You can t make any kind of a personal comment and it has a Little Neo nazi flavor he adds. It s the thought police and people Are unhappy. They re no going to put up with  this will come As news to those who Battle gender based Job discrimination. But Crichton pulls no punches blaming some women for most of the Trou ble. They be twisted modern feminism into a Doc Trine of special privilege he claims polluting relations Between the sexes and putting everyone on Edge. At least that s the message of disclosure a pro Vocative Story of sexual harassment and new age computer High Jinks that has Hollywood written All Over it. Indeed the Book was recently sold to War Ner Bros for a whopping $3.5 million and it reads More like a script treatment than a novel. Crichton s latest stars a ruthless woman who beats out her former Lover for a coveted executive Job. A voting Victory she tries to destroy him by filing phony sex harassment charges. He fights Back to Clear his name. The author says it took him eight weeks to write the first draft of disclosure in a Bungalow near his Sarita Monica calif., Home. He s on tour to promote the Book but it s almost beside the Point. Like John Grisham he s one of those writers whose Mere name on a cover guarantees huge sales. It also Sparks criticism Why does Crichton make a woman his villain some reviewers have asked when most sexual harassment cases Are filed by women against men in 1992, according to the equal employment Opportunity commission Only 968 men filed sexual harassment charges out 10,577 complaints. Meanwhile there Are shots at Crichton s literary depth it will be the very rare person who reread disclosure sniffed the Wall Street journal. So what else is new some critics charged that his previous novel rising Sun crudely bashed the Japa Nese and Crichton has responded with anger saying such barbs Are unfair. Yet his Chest beating Polemi Cal books seem to invite them. Like his characters he loves being outspoken. Question what prompted you to focus on sexual harassment As a topic answer i was looking for a Long time for some Way to talk about the relationship of the sexes in this country. And this seemed to be the right Story this reversed Story. It s a very difficult problem and i had never faced it before. Q you be said the plot is based on a real life occurrence re a Ted by a Friend. How much did you change the actual incident for the novel a i did t want to change it at All. But of course one is required legally to change it so the problem was to find things that would be equivalent. I had to disguise the real situation but tried to keep the values the same. I Don t think i should say much beyond that. Q How did you go about researching the Book a i read extensively in the academic literature on the subject and i thought that would be my preparation. Now i thought i la go speak to people in differ ent corporations none of whom wanted to be associated with me i said would you like to be thanked in the Book and they said absolutely not none of the attorneys. I think it shows the sensitivity on this. Q did anything Surprise you in your research at High tech computer firms a the first thing i discovered is that these people had no knowledge of the scientific or academic literature. They had no knowledge of various feminist positions on these issues. And they did t want to know. Their lives Are very fast paced and they had a kind of rough and ready pragmatic approach to Gen Der issues. They re Young companies and there s a tremendous amount of sexual activity. Although the companies All have rules about what you can and can t do with other people the companies can t control it. The human resources people act like they re in charge of some Rabbit Warren. Q was there a change in your self awareness As you wrote the Book a yes very dramatic. My intention was to address what i thought of As unacknowledged biases and assumptions in our society. And i discovered to my amazement while i was working that i had plenty of my own. I had a Good Deal of difficult feelings about this protagonist As i was writing.  disclosure begins Tom Sanders is a com Puter executive in his Early 40s who expects to get a Long awaited promotion. By the end he s Lucky to still have his Job and the respect of his wife a Tough talking attorney. Sanders problems begin when Meredith Johnson a stunningly attractive employee in his Seattle based company Digicam seemingly comes out of nowhere to Pluck the promotion away from him. The two had an unhappy affair 10 years before and hours after her new Job is announced Johnson invites Sanders up to her new office for something More than a handshake and a Glass of wine. At first Sanders can t believe what s happening and he tries to Dodge her overtures. But she persists and finally gets him Down on a sofa with her. At the last second he refuses to go through with the act saying it would be wrong. He reminds his new Boss that he has a wife and two kids but she erupts with fury vowing to get even with the Man who has spurned her. For the rest of the Book Sanders fights valiantly to convince scores of people including his lawyer that he has been a victim of sexual harassment. Q seconds before Sanders 6acs off he has undressed Johnson and there s quite a bit of heavy breathing. In t it hard to View him As a victim a yes. His pants Are Down around his Knees so How much of a victim Are you and yet when you turn the situation around current feminist Dogma Page 22 sunday january 30, 1994