Praise and prejudice

The new books, in review, by George Dangerfield

Holy Deadlock, by A. P. Herbert

It is a very curious thing that, in the lists of best-selling hooks, there should appear so many examples of second and third rate British fiction. Mr. Louis Golding, for example, and Mr. Warwick Deeping have both inflicted a negligible and faintly nauseating book on America this summer, with great profit to themselves; a lady called Phyllis Bottome must, for no very valid reason, be getting something more than pin-money out of her Private Worlds; and meanwhile a first class native book like Robert Cantwell's The Land of Plenty is allowed to die the death! It all seems very unfair, particularly as American writers rarely get much of a hand in London.

At the time of writing this, there is a good deal of brouhaha about A. P. Herbert's Holy Deadlock—A. P. Herbert being one of the stand-bys of Punch, and very well in his own line. Holy Deadlock has been called, among other things, "a novel of wide range and rich humor and abundant charm"; these are the words of Mr. Gerald Gould, of the London "Observer," who hasn't said a hard thing about a compatriot for years and years. One can only add that it isn't a novel and that it is highly unfunny.

Mr. Herbert provides a hero, called John Adam. You may have met John Adam before—in the works of A. S. M. Hutchinson and such—for he is the modern Galahad who takes it on the chin, a favorite character in British fiction. In Mr. Herbert's book, he appears as a religious publisher who married a girl called Miss Eve. Miss Eve became an actress and fell in love with another man, as well she might; and John Adam gallantly offered to give her a divorce. This meant pretending to be adulterous with a respectable girl, hired from an agency for that purpose, a situation with which Mr. Herbert has a good deal of tearful and tedious fun.

In the end, the English divorce laws —which are, to be sure, very hypocritical—refuse a divorce, and the disillusioned John wanders out of the hook with a Jermyn Street fille de joie. It is all very good propaganda—for English readers; it would boil down to a nice article; but why America should absorb the work of an English humorist in a fit of deadly seriousness, when there are so many native writers who really need a little attention, is, and will remain beyond one's understanding. (Doubleday, Doran. $2.50)

Security Speculation, by John T. Flynn

Five hundred thousand people ought to be interested in reading this book.

Believe Mr. Flynn, and he is one of our leading financial writers, there are five hundred thousand Americans who speculate on the Stock Exchange today.

In a nutshell, his argument is as follows: This speculation is confined to a few active issues of common stock, and only to a small proportion of that stock; it is "initiated and whipped up" by members of the New York Stock Exchange; its economic effects are widespread and poisonous; and any non-professional who takes part in it is riding for a heavy fall.

Mr. Flynn's conclusions are supported by an array of facts, charts, and sad examples. They are not exactly affable conclusions, and the reader may disagree with them entirely. But Security Speculation—at once diligent, scholarly, and exciting—is one of the meatiest items of the year 1934, and not the least timely. (Harcourt Brace. $3.00)

Blue Plate Special, by Damon Runyon

Mr. Runyon is hereby hailed as the legitimate successor to Ring Lardner. This is not a very newsy remark, since Runyon is known from coast to coast, or from Collier s to The Cosmopolitan, and most people probably think of him in relation to Ring Lardner. But Blue Plate Special is only his second published book, which seems a fair excuse for the critic to give tongue. Runyon is clearly more limited in his scope than Lardner, and he is something of a cynic and something of a sentimentalist—and Lardner was neither of these. Moreover Runyon's dialogue is in the Hemingway mode, being more the symbol than the transcript of conversation. But he belongs in the good tradition: he takes it for granted that one can understand his language; he treats his characters as though they were his equals; and no other country could possibly have produced him.

Blue Plate Special is a collection of thirteen short stories, and all the characters are Broadway racketeers or thereabouts. The best of these stories is probably "Dancing Dan's Christmas", which you will find on page 177 and can read in ten minutes, if the bookstore clerk isn't looking; but my advice is to buy the boy the book. It's a bargain at any price. (Stokes. $2.50 )

Check list on page 76

Literary Check List

• SO RED THE ROSE, by Stark Y oung.

—Family life in the South during the Civil War. A minor novel in a minor key; but delicate, vivid, and comprehensive. Important reading. (Scribners. $2.50)

• APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA, by

John O'Hara.—The tragedy of an automobile manufacturer and the tragi-comedy of a Pennsylvania town during the Hoover era. Dialogue and drama excellent; characters variable. An extremely promising first novel. (Harcourt, Brace. $2.50)

• SLIM, by William Wister Haines.—

The Odyssey of a young Southern lineman, who works his way across the power cables of America. Awkward fiction, but rich and authentic material, set forth with enviable passion. A first novel. (Little Brown. $2.50)

• EAST AND WEST, by Somerset

Maugham.—Mr. Maugham's thirty favorite short stories. The author has been called everything from a modern Timon to a literary draught under the drawing room door. We suggest that he is the only living British master of prose, and recommend this collection accordingly. (Doubleday, Doran. $3.00)

• DEFY THE FOUL FIEND, by John

Collier.—The illegitimate son of a bankrupt peer, loose in the bad world of London. This extravaganza of the innocent at home is going to please a lot of people, but it isn't for all tastes. (Knopf. $2.50)

• DESERT WIFE, by Hilda Faunce.—

An Oregon lady tells her experience of four years among the Navajos. A fascinating book, recommended—without reservations—to all and sundry. (Little Brown. $3.00)

• THE REBEL RAIDER, by Howard

Swiggett. — Presenting General John Morgan, Confederate cavalry leader. Another valuable addition to Civil War history which we cannot recommend too highly. (Bobbs Merrill. $3.00)

• ALEXANDER THE CORRECTOR, by

Edith Olivier.—The biography of that fantastic 18th century Scotsman, Alexander Cruden, selfstyled reformer and author of the Bible Concordance. A delightful book. (Viking. $2.50)

• AMERICAN SONG, by Paul Engle.

—Whitman, Lindsay, and Macleish attended the cradle of Mr. Engle's muse; but he is an original poet in his own right, and we predict a big future for him. All readers of poetry should buy this straightway. (Doubleday, Doran. $2.50)