Ritter in Residence

Lynne Hughes teaches communication arts at the University of Calgary.

In her latest book, Ritter in Residence, Erika Ritter humorously comments on concerns of modern readers, particularly feminists. In her 36 essays she writes about male-female relationships, the “Yuppie” phenomenon, and a variety of other rather “trendy” subjects. These essays, which are written in several forms —plays, monologues, diary entries — make up an enjoyable satire of contemporary issues.

Ritter is funniest when she constructs parodies of serious themes. She satirizes Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, North America’s penchant for talk shows, and today’s emphasis on the working out of male-female relationships in “A Renovated Doll’s House.” Here “Phil Donnybrook” interviews the re-surfaced Nora, who maintains that “‘Torvald’s really learning how to relate to women in an open, non-competitive way’” (p. 23). Ritter’s ability to play on words makes for a delightful read in “The Realest Woman of Them All.” In this piece, the domestic-minded Myrna Hemmingstitch writes acclaimed books such as For Whom the Jell Moulds, which offers hints for cooking for large numbers of troops. “Stephanie Leacock: Unmasked, Considered, and Appreciated,” perhaps the cleverest piece, mocks the single-minded attempt by many critics to discover hidden mysteries behind works of literature. Ritter’s discovery, described in scholarly prose, is that Stephen Leacock’s sister Stephanie had, in fact, written his books — one of which was originally titled Sun Sign Sketches for a Little Town, a book of astrologically-based exercises for Orillia’s natives.

Other amusing essays present sociological and psychological interpretations of habits and behaviour. These include losing keys, drinking coffee (in “Grounds for Discourse,” Ritter maintains that personalities are revealed by what people take in their coffee), and listening to the radio (there is a distinct difference between AM and FM listeners. Like Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes, Ritter invites her readers to recognize themselves in her vignettes and to share with her their feelings and memories: “Hands up, everyone old enough to recall fondue. Oh, come on. You remember ...” (p. 179), and “I know. I know. You don’t have time for workout classes any more” (p. 130).

Several of her pieces address contemporary women and the struggle to maintain relationships with men; “One Hundred Uses for a Dead Relationship,” “Mona’s Manners for Married Men,” and “The Man Manual” cynically convey the problems involved in establishing a relationship. The effort required of today’s liberated women to be independent, efficient, and at the same time sexually attractive comes through in many of the self-deprecating lines uttered by Ritter and her friends: “Forget prospects for peace in the Middle East.... What I want to know is, how come I’m the only person I know whose eyeshadow always cakes into greasy little lines across my eyelids?” (p. 25) While a few remarks like this are amusing, Ritter includes too many, and they tend to become tiresome; fewer notes of this nature would have been more appropriate.

Generally, however, Ritter in Residence succeeds. To be sure, some of Ritter’s essays will be best appreciated by feminists, since many of their issues are dealt with, but overall, likely everyone who reads the book will find it perceptive, witty, and well worth reading.