ANGELS DON'T DIE

Angels may not die, but they will surely wish for suspended animation until the last copy of this book is shredded. Ronald Reagan's daughter has already wasted her parents in earlier books (The Way I See It, not reviewed, etc.). Now she has come 180 degrees, and having found God, she gives the credit to her father. Or maybe she has confused her father with God—it's not altogether clear. Blessedly, Davis's report of her epiphany is short—and shallow. In this volume, the Great Communicator is so often portrayed as lifting his blue eyes to the heavens that he seems to be reading the Great TelePrompTer in the Sky. Davis's turnaround began when her father was shot by John Hinckley. She visited him in the hospital, she says, and heard him say that his healing was dependent on forgiving the gunman. ``I remember telling him,'' she says, ``you're the best Christian around.'' Gradually, she began to reinterpret stories and incidents from her childhood. For instance, a remark made by her father after her grandfather's funeral—``Why are you crying''—comes to be seen as peaceful acceptance of death rather than insensitivity. Stories of horseback rides with her father in the California hills, troubled dreams, fables of angels, and advice on ``talking to God'' emerge as antidotes to the author's earlier tales of misunderstanding and neglect. According to Davis, the ailing President Reagan is grateful when his troubled children come home for family holidays, but the stiffly worded forewords that he and Nancy have prepared for this book suggest that old wounds are still tender. Neither mentions their daughter, the author. Looking for enlightenment about presidential fathers as spiritual guides? Wait until Chelsea gets a little older. ($120,000 ad/promo; author tour)