Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-12
NEW BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Alice NscGswaH Writes Interesting Story
About a Texas Girl.
HARPtRs PUBLISH A COOK BOON

venue zimmerman IL the AuthOr OF n
New Book on B~irds-Henry T.
oates a Co. Publish a
Book on whist.
THE Last Word" by Alice MacGowan,
is a novel just published by L. c. Page &
Co. II is a story Of a Texas girl. who,
having done some writing which attracted
attention to her work, was invited by a
New York publishing house to Join it's
stan. Darlington West. so the girl lie
named, starts for her new field Of labor.
On the train she falls in with a man, and
after some h~eeitancy condescends to talk
with him. The two fall on love, and later
Miss West discovers the. the man is the
president Of the publishing house with
which she has Just made arrangements for
the publication Of her manuscript. He is
a Randolph of Virginia, chivalrous, naughty,
honorable and dictatorial, who entertains
the medieval view OF women. Upon this
rock the ship Of their hopes suffers some
thing akin to destruction and is taken of
the reefs and put in seaworthy condition
only as the result Of much spiritual labor,
the details Of which may be left to the
responsiveness of the author, who knows
how to say what she has to say in an en-
gaging IL somewhat selfconscious manner.
One of the best chapters in the book is
that in which the cowboys Of Texas take
leave, of Darlington West, she being, evil
IDENTIFY, a heroine in their eyes, though why
and how is not explained.
"Harper's Cook Book Encyclopedia" is
the cook book Of the Twentieth century.
1t is made like a dictionary, so that you
can turn instantly to what you want with
out going through a maze OF indexes and
tables of contents. It contains a compre-
hensive number Of approved recipes by
which the most famous cooking authorities
Of the world are represented. Some Of the
contributors are: Marion Harland, Mary
]. Lincoln, Annabel Lee, Christine Ter
hume Herrick, Mary Stuart Smith, Mrs.
Blay, Yssguirre, Margaret Sangster, Jo-
sephine Grenier and numerous others.
There are contributions by every cooking
expert and the book is edited by the editor
of Harper's Bazaar. Published by Harper
& Bros.
How to Attract the Birds" by Nellie
Blanchan, is a new book on birds by the
author Of BIRD Neighbors" and Natures
Garden" One OF the most interesting chap
ters in the book is entitled What Birds
Can Do for U.s." Neltje Blanohan has a
pleasing way and she so delights in her
topic that readers cannot fail to love all
the better Gods creatures. The volume
is singularly attractive, the Illustrations
being entirely novel and taken in larger
part from life. Published by Doubleday,
Page & Co.
Shakespeare Plots, a Study OF the
Dramatic Construction Of the Plays by
William H. Fleming. "No one of Shakes
! peare's plays is more popular than The
Merchant of Venice None is more misun-
derstood. The opinion is almost universal
that the main action is the loan by Shy
lock to Antonio and the consequences there
or. The opinion is wholly mistaken. The
error is the result OF two causes: Ignor-
ance OF dramatic construction and the
conventional method of staging the play"
The opening paragraph Of Mr.. Fleming's
study of THE Merchant Of Venice" 'indi-
Gates the character of his work. The au-
thor proceeds in an interesting manner to
analyze the famous play, both in its me-
chanical construction and in its aesthetic
qualities. In like method Mr.. Fleming
makes a comprehensive study of four other
plays, Macbeth Julius Caesar
"othello" and 1.-THE Twelfth Night"
The method followed is extremely help
| ll 10 everyone N0O Ttdub bndheSptdT6-
To the playgoer and student the book is
of value in giving clear insight to play
writing in general and to an appreciation
Of Shakespeare's masterpieces in partieu-
lar. in this respect Mr.. Fleming has I'M
dertaken a phase In the study Of hakes-
peare that has not heretofore received its
proper attention by writers and editors.
The author insists that the plot is the
important thing, and shows how a we'll
constructed plot is built by as definite
laws as an arch of masonry. Numberless
are the commentators Of the master, but
few have approached the analysis of the
plays with better effect or with better
results than Mr.. Fleming.
Two chapters OF the book, by way Of In
PRODUCTION, are devoted to explain how
the drama is a work OF art founded on ma
ture and natures laws. The art of COM
position. the evolution Of a drama, like
movement and growth in nature, is in
strict accordance with laws. A drama,
like a house, is builded. It's architecture
obeys certain fixed rules OF construction.
These may be classified into FIVE general
divisions: Introduction, where most of
the main characters are introduced;
growth, where the real action of the play
begins; climax. where all the complIcating
and revolving forces OF the play meet in
a point, for the climax Is the crest OF
the dramatic arch up to which the action
has moved. from which point that action
changing it's direction moves toward the
conclusion Of the play; the fall prepares
for the end; the catastrophe is the final
event in a drama. All or Shakespeare's
plays are builded on this scaifolding, and
for that reason his plays are models OF
dramatic construction. The pIaygoer or
reader educated to understand these prin-
ciples finds in Shakespeare delight and
inspiration.
Mr.. Fleming. having clearly explained to
the reader the rules Of dramatic construe-
tion. resolves each Of the FIVE plays into
it's constituent parts and leads the reader
step by step through each OF the divisions.
The various and numerous parts 'of which
each play Is composed are reduced to
order-the significance Of each is given its
proper value. Out Of the variety of char
acter, OF passion. Of action, Of incident and
scene, there is developed unity. The sep
arate details of the play are seen to be
correlated, each having its proper place and
accent In the development Of the plot.
The connection and harmony Of all the
parts become apparent. The full force and
value OF the play is made evident, and