New-York tribune., 1919-07-14
Books
By Haywood Broun

By Haywood Broun
TINE prevailing idea that the term "hss.
seller" is synonymous with frivolous
is set at nought by the figures for tba
month of June. According to statistics com
piled by H. S. Browne Co., the most nonn
lar work of fiction is still 1.-The Four Horse.
men Of the Apocalypse" by Vicente Blasco
Ibanez. Joseph Conrad's "The Arrow ~
Gold" is second. The next eight IN ordar
are Dawn" by Eleanor Porter; THE Desert
of Wheat" by Zane Grey; "The Sky pi,o. os
No Mans Land" by Ralph Connor; "Ths
Valley of Vison," by Henry van DYKE.
Jungle Tales of Tarzan," by E. Burroughs.
"The Tin Soldier" by Temple Bailey; "Tha
Wicked Marquis" by E. P. Oppenhem. and
"Christopher and Columbus" by the author
of elizabeth and Her German Garden"
In non-fction Rudyard Kiplng is the lead.
er with "The Years Between" Second place
is held by Brand Whtlock's Belgium Then
follow in order "In Flanders Field" by John
McRea; "Bolshevism," by John Spargo; "Tho
Education of Henry Adams" by Henry
Adams, and "Joyce Kilmer, Poems and
Essays"
Ring Lardner is more careful of the de-
Elections Of his English than is E. Streeter.
author of "Dere Mable" and "Same Old Bill.
eh Mable!" which is the most recent of his
soldier series. Bill is puzzle to u.s. for ha
gets by swimmingly with difficult words, such
permanent" and thermometer" and falls
down with "agenst' and "ishue" Moreover.
Bill writes of "lyin down in the grass" If
Bill really wanted to live up to most of ths
spelling and grammar with which his creator.
has endowed him he would be pretty sure tS
say "layin."
Speaking Of slang, Streeter, Lardner and
the erudite Mr.. Mencken all seem to hav.3
overlooked the most picturesque phrase which
came out Of the American army. We refer.
of course, to "sitting on the world" which
means, if you don't know, living high, as II,
the sentence, "Oh, I've been sitting on ths
world. had tent with a floor in it."
"Ths book, dear reader will be a delight.
full secret between u.s." writes Georys
Sylvester Viereck in the preface to his book
called ga Psycho-Analytic Study Of Theo-
dore Roosevelt"
press" he continues. "It will not even be-
mentioned" Mr.. Viereck goes on to point
out why he will be victimized by this con-
spiracy of silence. Neither my pro Ger-
manism nor my Gaelic affiliations are re-
sponsible for the boycott of my muse" hs
declares. "My real offence, surprising as
this may seem, is nothing less than my
Americanism."
Accordingly, we hasten to say something
about Mr. Vereck's book because we be.
lieve the last charge against himself, which
he mentions, is without foundation. We
don't believe he did it. To US his purity
seems chemical. There is reason in
the world, therefore, why we should not
record our impression that Mr. Viereck's
| little book is experiment in malice which
! falls far short of it's object, because of a
lack of skill. The book is pastered owe,
like patent medicine bottle with tributes
from all sorts of American critics to Vie
reck's mastery Of verse forms and English
prose. The book does not live up to these
testimonials, fer it is markedly conven-
tiona4 and trite in expression Viereck for
instance, says that Roosevelt "intrgued'
his imagination. He is also impressed by
the fact that the colonel was "dynamic'
and when he wasn't that he was "Napo-
leonic."
The book purports to be a psychoan-
alytc study of Roosevelt, but there is pre-
cous little of this. A few paragraphs are
devoted to explaining the theory of am
bivalence, which is "the sway of coexisting
contrary tendencies" In the light of this
theory Mr.. Viereck implies that when Colo-
mel Roosevelt wrote to him you are not
good citizen here or "such an attitude on
your part is, of course, unutterably silly
if not silly, it would be unutterably base
he was merely actuated by a suppressed
admiration for Mr.. Viereck
AS matter of fact, the book seems to
have been written to introduce the ia II
that Colonel Roosevelt once said he liked
q poem of Mr.. Vierecks and that he once
attended a luncheon at which the poet was
also present. However, if there is anything
in the theory of ambivalence, Mr. Viereck
should not worry or even bother to strike
back at his seeming foes, for there is not
one Of them who would not be willing 10
express his almost fanatical suppressed
gard for George Sylvester Viereck by kick
Ing him upstairs or down, or both.