NONFICTION - May 5, 1991

THEY USED TO CALL ME SNOW WHITE by Regina Barreca (Viking: $18.95; 204 pp.) . Remember the old Certs breath mint commercial, about a tasty breath freshener that was “two, two, two mints in one?” This is the prose equivalent. Barreca is a sharp analyst of women’s humor--not only what women think is funny, but the very interesting question of how women think funny, which is different from the way men make jokes. She’s a living dictionary of women’s comic material, which makes the book entertaining for those of us who don’t get out to comedy clubs. Basically, as long as the author sticks to being an academic, she’s better than most--observant, witty, acerbic, and knowledgeable. It’s when she tries to be the Dr. Joyce Brothers of the punch line that she, and the book, get into trouble. She suggests that the tyranny of the workplace has discouraged women from developing their sense of humor, but then she turns around and implies that you’d best be able to toss a joke if you want to get ahead. It’s something of a reverse oppression; I can imagine an ambitious reader practicing snappy repartee in front of the mirror in the morning. A sincerely helpful gesture on the author’s part, but it seems misguided--yet one more thing the working woman can be made to feel insecure about.