The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-20
phite' in contradstinction to the bro mide."
"An Things Considered" by Gilbert K

m1de.
 "ATl Things Considered" by Gilbert K.
 Chestertor. (John Lane Co)
 Speaking Of bromides and sulphites! Here is a book to be avoided by the for4 mer, for really it will give bromide a conniption fit, whatever that is It IS certainly good for one attack Of the plps for any bromide that ever lived. Those people who tell us: Now that you've found the way. be sure to come again. You never have an umbrella when 1t rains The Salvation Army reaches class of people the churches never do. lsn 1t wonder how people got along With out telephones before they were invented. I don't Know anything about literature or painting, but l know when like book or painting Those Japs are such cute little men, Will it stop raining-it usu- ally does?' and so on and so forth ad ltauseem.
 So it is necessary that the aforesaid Bromides avoid Mir. Chesterton's new book-theres no telling what might nap pen if they tried to read 1t ana then attempted to understand it! We'll never mind.
 "Au Things Considered" includes 95 essays-delightfu they are, every one dealing with all sorts and conditions of things and people. On running after ones hat; the falacy of success; woman; the worship of the wealthy; spirituallsm; science and religion; phonetic spelling; Tom Jones and morality; wine when 1t IS red, and so on. Every one enjoyable.
 Speaking of "The Fallacy of Success" MT. Chesterton says:
 a.There has appeared in our time a par tlcular class of books and articles which I sincerely and solemnly think may be called the silliest ever known among men, They are much more Wild than the widest romances of chivalry and much more dull than the dullest religious tract Moreover, the romances of chtv- airy were at least about chiVilry: reli- gious tracts are about religion. But these things are nothing; they are about what is called success. On every book stall, in every magazine you may find works tell ing people how to succeed. They are books showing men how to succeed in everything; they are written by men who cannot succeed. even in writing books. To begin with, of course, there is no such thing as success. Or, if you like to put 1t so, there is nothing that 1t not sue cessful That a thing IS unsuccessful merely means that 1t is; a millionaire is successful in being a millionaire and donkey in being donkey. Any live man has succeeded in livinSS; any dead man may have succeeded in committing sui eide. But passing over the bad logic and had philosophy in the phrase. we may take it. as these writers do, in the ordi- nary sense of success in obtaining money or worldly position. These writers pro- fess to tell the ordinary nan how he may succeed in his trade or speculation-how. if he is a builder he may succeed as a builder: how if he Is a stock broker, he may succeed al d stock broker. They profess to show him how, If he IS Ero- cer he may become a sporting yachts man; how if he is tenth-r1te journalist, he may become peer. and how. If he is German Jew. he may become an Anglo Saxon. This is definite and business like proposal, and I really think that the people who buy these books df any people do buy them) have a moral, if not legal. right to ask for their money back. Nobody would dare publish book on electricity which literally told one nothing about electricity. . Yet our modern world is full of books about success and successful people which literally contain no kind of idea and scarcely any kind of verbal sense"
 It Is difficult to properly explain the pleasure in "All Things Considered" If the reader cares for book which will and does sparkle from beginning to end, get Mir Chesterton's new book; If you are not a Bromide, you will not regret the purchase.
 Of course Bromides must not attempt this book; but anyhow, this book depart ment Is not operated for the Bromides. "The Widow (To say nothing of the man), by Helen Rowland. Dodge Pub | fishing Co.)
 | What was said in regard to MT. Ches- l terton's new book discussed above ap- | plies as well to this unusually bright, | charming book. called ''The Widow" by | Helen Rowland.
 l We are told by some eastern reviewers l that what ''The Widow doesn't know | about men, woman. marriage and the | love-game is hardly worth knowing-cer- ] tainly not telling.
 | That's true, too. "The Widow" Is very l delightful, in its way-which is a good | way, too.
 I There is nothing offensive in the book l either: as the reader may fear from see ing the book on the bookstore's shelves.