The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-28
NEW BOOK NEWS
CONDUCTED BY MARTHA YOUNG

Gay Summer Books for Gay Summer
 Girls Enchantment. An enchanting Enchantnent that really enchants is this book of Mir. MacGrath's.
 The publishers have at last found that the public likes, longs for. lin- xers over a volume of short stories.
 The spice of variety in them.
 The charm of change.
 They are the delight of leisure mo- ments. They give them short, sharp, incisive hour of alert interest. They can be taken up between tasks, and thus made to Tighten labor.
 The happy short story.
 This volume of short stories Is par ficulariy happy. For brisk, witty dia- loxue there are Anthony Hope, Benson and MacGrath.
 "A Nights Entertainment" begins in front of the Players Club on Gramercy Park, and leads through a millionaire's dinner to what we are sure will prove loves flower strewn lane. "The Blind Madonna' is the Adventure of a Golden Louis. Colonel Chadwick tells in this 5usf how 1t came about that he never plays for money. The story of how he broke the bank at Monaco is such a one as has never been told heretofore Of that throne of the Golden Chance.
 MO Cinderilla" is full of "Dodos" all full of wit. The trouble Is for lover <o choose between them. The climax ss VIII: disaffinity and impossible, but the way to 1t has been every page full of Fascination.
 s-The Enchanted Hat" Is a gay little 9a1e of bad little brother, a beautiful sister. a briefless lawyer, a wise pro- lessor and an absent minded French man..
 The whole book is gay and garrulous and bright with the lights of New xerk's avenues.
 pAzM. Bettina von Hutton addresses q preface to her book to the critics. It Is a long time since the critic has had this attention paid to him. In these days of commercialism the pub lisher doesn't care much about the critic and the author doesn't care at all. The great thing with the author is 10 get a publisher to take book He is sure then of the services of the press agent and the featured advertisement. He can even have, if his book is prom ising, in the eye of the publisher, column or two of review paid for by the publisherl Startling fact, but so patent that even the public. the big public that is always expected to stay in h state of eagerness to be befooled. is catching on to it. The publisher doesn't care a whit what the critics write if the book sellers buy, the book sellers Tn turn only want to hand over the book for pay over the counter. One really hears a book spoken of as well-written now-a-days, but as "best selling" But the author of Pam is not one of these commercialized of new writer's She won her good place in It, erature when things were different. when the being author of book meant something more than being like q brand of bacon, just a convenient catchy selling name.
 The author disclaims writing in de- fence of theory, or in defiance of social law. She claims only to tell a round, unvarnished tale. and she stands outside her work and admits to neither approval nor disapproval of anything that transpires In the pages.
 And Tv writes this author, who still has a regard to the critic, "who relate, am not a preacher. So, good critics, wibbet my literary abilities, laugh at my literary fallicies. weep over my literary dullness. but impute not to me The views of my characters!"
 She may be sure that no critic with 8 sense of values will do that. How ever. some critics say that if one writes of philosophy must needs dub him k philosopher; if one tells of divorcee will conclude that the writer wants divorce; if one writes of a fortune, will Btraightway call him a fortune-hunter.
 Let such critics be as short lived as are the best sellers"
 Pam is a book of many lives lived many ways; it is book of the great world where things do not always ad- just themselves with the evenness of a checkerboard.
 It is the life story of Pauline Lea land. a woman of temperament. She lives as pleases her, and if she sins others must do the suffering for her;