Los Angeles herald., 1892-06-19
BOOK TALK.

and his mastery OF the language of vitu-
perative wrath is superlative. In re-
cent article this dealer in poison-im-
bued adjectives vents the full need Of
his splenetic ire upon the realistic
school of fiction in general, and VIM.
Dean Howells, "the master Of this de-
testable school OF literature" in partic-
ular. He inveighs against Howells
in the most stringent terms;
speaks of his recent de-
psrtment in Harper's Maga-
zine ae used for the sole purpose of
expounding, at the expense Of his en-
ployers. thoughts, theories and princi.
pies which are the result of his own
limitations; and winds up by saying:
"He has now shifted his SNUG PERSONAL
ity and his factory Of little wooden men
and women on wheels to the Cosmopol-
itan, and his following of fibrous vir-
gins, fat matrons and oleaginous clergy
men has probably gone with him to
cheer and direct him in pulling down
that periodical to the level of inanity
from which his successor will have to
try to pull up the other"
This is lingering and humorous"
Snug personality" forsooth! Good,
very good, coming as it does from Mr..
Bierce. Il thank him much for teaching
me that phrase" There was once q pot
that had the temerity to call the kettle
black. It became q s'by-word of all
years to come" Mr.. Bierce differs some
what from the pot-he will never be-
come by-word; though such is evil
IDENTIFY his modest ambition.
don't propose to couch lances with
Mr.. Bierce on the much-discussed SUBJ
ject of so-called realism. myself pre-
fer art to photography-the work of the
brush toSthat OF the camera; provided
always, uthat the brush is welded by
an artist. But am not an extremist,
and prefer good photograph to poor
painting.
must, however, take issue with him
on the subject of Mr.. Howells. Mr..
Howells, l know, is the avowed cham
pion of the realistic school; but, if he
will pardon me, am forced to consider
his bark az worse than his bite. He
doesn't mean all that he says; or, at
least (perhaps in Difference to purblind
reading public, he doesn't carry his
more advanced theories to their logical
conclusion. He has even been known
to drift to the verge of romance, and
almost threaten q plot. &
I cannot bring myself to consider Mr..
Howells' creations az s.little wooden
men and women on wheels, !" "fbrous
virgins" "fat matrons' and "oleagin-
ous clergymen." am inclined to fear
that Mr.. Bierce made inconsiderate use
of these phrases merely because they
had pleasant taste In his mouth and
pleasing sound to his ear. Take s'oleag-,,
inous clergyman" for example. How
it rolls from the tongue and falls with
great rhythmic wave-beats of smooth.
flowing sound" upon the tympanum /
can fancy Mr.. Bierce smacking his lips
over it, and leaning forward to catch its
faintest Standardization az it floats out
upon the air.
I Nor can I bring myself to condone
with the readers Of the Cosmopolitan
since Mr.. Howells s'shiftedn his ad-
jectiveized personality, !" with the afore-
said following, and his 'slimitations' to
its editorial staff. The magazine is GER
tainly taking very roundabout way OF
fulfilling Mr.. Bierce's predictions. And
while the genial Charles Dudley Warner
is making g very sunshiny little room
out of the Editors Study" in Harper's,
hardly think he will be called upon to
over-exert himself in the effort to "pull
up" that periodical from the sslevel of
inanity~ at which his predecessor left it.
~
"a rivulet of text meandering through
q wide meadow of margin" n"-such, In
appearance, is Will M. Clemens's neat
little volume on Mark Twain, the Story
of His Life and Work, issued by the
Clemens Publishing Co.. of San Fran
cisco. A bright, laughing, ripping riv-
ulet it proves to be; sparkling with the
reflected sunshine Of Marks genial
humor, ahimmering with pleasant anec.
dotes ofsthis prince of laughter-makers
and showing as just enough of-"his life
and work" to give trend to its course,
1t runs msrrily over the uneven bed
rock ofexperience and down the varied
rapids of adventure, until, after count
less windings, it flows at last in the
deep channel OF success. Along its
banks are many fresh bits of charming
scenery. .,
Mark Twain il many. sided genius-a
man Of great gifts and rare personality.
His shiftless, Tom Sawyer-like youth
and early manhood Of rowing poverty,
merged into maturer manhood Of IN
paralleled achievement. From printers
apprentice. steamboat pilot. wandering
prospector, miner, newspaper man and
adventurer along the highways and by
ways of all manner of experience, he
advanced to his present enviable posi-
tion of fun maker for the world, the
mcet gifted humorist of this most
humorous nation. Nor is this all. He
is b brilliant aiter-dinner speaker, q
lecturer of no little reputation, an in
ventor of many useful articles, most
successful publisher, the Amusement
bureau" for happy family of children,
and the author OF the most substantial
Spring Poem ever folsted upon the un-
suspecting public. (Mark himself is my
authority for this last statement.)
Nobody can read Mr.. Clemens's little
book without being instructed and
amused. 1t is the pleasantest OF biog-
raphies; for its author knows just
what to omit-a most rare gift. He
never thrusts himself or his personal
opinions upon the reader but there is
scarcely page that he hasn't enlivened
with extracts fom Mark Twain's laugh
ter-compelling pen.
(For sale by Edwards & Mcknight,
First street, between Spring and Main,
80 cents
m the Arena for June. Louise Chand-
Ter Moulton discusses "Three English
Poets,' William Morris, Owen Mere
dith and Sir Edwin Arnold. To Will
liam Morris che awards the palm Of
superior excellence, to him sthe high