The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-24
Mr. HARR|SON'S NOVEL,
Its Characters Taken From
Society and Bohemia, and
Their Names Given.
WITH TRUTH FOR THE MUSE.
With San Francisco and Its
Lights.

William Greer Harrison, Bohemian.
athlete, dramatist, poet, essayist, lecturer
and underwater, will soon add the title of
novelist to his name.
Even now he is burning the midnight
oil, and many pages of manuscript have
already accumulated. Soon the renown OF
Jere Lynch and Tom Fitch will be eclipsed
and the wide world will be buzzing with
the fame of new novelist.
Certainly that portion Of the world
nominated on the maps of California as
the Bay district Will buzz, for though in its
application and its morale the new tale
will be as broad as all humanity, its
characters will be local and its scenes laid
in San Francisco. Its hero and its heroine,
as well as those that contribute to their
unhappiness in the middle chapters and
to their triumph in the last chapter, will
be taken from real life without even the
disguise of fanciful names.
my method is to idealize fact" said
Mr.. Harrison last evening when asked to
tell something about his latest effort in
literature. "But the idealization will stop
far short of distortion, can promise you
that
There was an omen in the words.
Though the novel is far advanced, the
determination of its title is still in abey-
ance. It may be Bohemia Unveiled" or
bohemia as l Have Found It" or 1.-THE
Tue Bohemia or Society and Bohe-
mia" or it may be none of these. The
word Bohemia" may not appear in the
title, but, at all events, there will be no
such lack in its text.
1.-The story will deal with Bohemia"
said Mr.. Harrison. at will take
the stand that the real life is the
life of the Bohemian. The ambitions of
the Bohemian are lofty and never reached,
hence there is always the happiness of the
lofty struggle for better things. The am
billions of the money-getters are paltry at
best, and when satisfed-as they often
are, but by the exercise of the meaner fac
ulties-the unhappiness and the discomfort
of safety follow.
Il look at it in another light. In the
ewes of the world the Bohemian has no
ambition. And that is true enough, when
you know that all things are relative. The
artists mission is an altruistic one-to make
the world better for the life he enjoys. To
the world this is no ambition at all. To
the world Bohemia is without ambition
And l shall try to show how the life with
out ambition is the real life. l shall show
its freedom from the constraints of Mrs
Grundy, the naturalness of the life and its
greater usefulness to the world.
''As to personalities? Oh, shall shield
no one that comes properly within the
range of my muse. / shall employ real
names. You will find Joe Redding in the
book, Amadee Joullin, Raphael We'll, Jack
Lathrop, John Stanton and lots of others
of the real Bohemia. I do not mean the
Bohemian Club, mind you. when 1 speak
of Bohemia.
And l am not going to forget Bur-
Iingame and the Country Club-not unless
my plot changes a good deal. I shall
try not to be severe, but shall try
also to tell the truth-as much as one can
in a romance. Sarcasm is a good weapon
and irony makes the pages bright if handled
rightly.
ooh, yes; It will be love story. IL will
have a queen of Bohemia, and what is
more a real queen. She falls in love with
the hero, himself shining light in b.
hernia, and in the end they are wed. Yes;
all that.
"Shall deal with the conventions of So
ciety2 Ny dear fellow, the novel will treat
of society per Sc. Perhaps not to the en-
tire satisfaction of the elect, but-well, you
know, care but little for criticisms from
some quarters. A novel can't be all sun
shine, you know; not one that is taken
from real life, at any rate.
'Do call it realistic? Well, am not
going down into the Sums for my scenes
or my characters. But 1 mean to show
Bohemia as it is and society as it is. Moth
ing more and nothing less. That would
be realism, would it not?
California street, Sansome street, Com
mercial street and the residence quarters
of the City furnish ample ground for one
who has true story to tell. shall not go
beyond those limits"
Perhaps in two months or less the new
novel will be on the bookstands. Mean
while society is in f1utter to know what
the new novelist shall say about it, and b.
hemia is waiting patiently to see its shin
ing lights in their new roles. An enter
prising theatrical manager is considering
the profit of it's dramatization. And till
the daylight dawns the gas burns steadily
in the study of William Greer Harrison,