REFLECTIONS IN A JAUNDICED EYE <i> by Florence King (St. Martin’s Press: $7.95) </i>

These essays confirm Florence King’s reputation as one of the wittiest curmudgeons in the United States: Her escutcheon undoubtedly bears the motto “with malice toward all.” She mercilessly excoriates the follies of American popular culture, from portentous magazine articles on the role of the American male to the “pseudo-feminist myth” of the caring workplace. A discussion of contemporary literature includes a devastating assesment of John Updike (“reading him is like cutting through whale blubber with embroidery scissors”) and a hilarious spoof of “Gone With the Wind,” rewritten in contemporary jargon (“Frankly, my dear, it doesn’t impact me”). The delightful cynicism of “Reflections” provides a welcome antidote to the blandly optimistic catch phrases and sound bites of America in the early ‘90s.