The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-06
Concerning "Bedouins''

titled, "Bedouins," the 1

WW Mr. Huneker's new book, en- V titled, "Bedouins," the first thing I did was, to get my dictionary
 and look for the word.
 l had, of course, my own idea of what
 it meant, but that didn't keep me from
 looking it up, and this is what I found; "Bedouin; Q) one of the nomadic Arsos of Syria, Aribia, and Northern Africa; @ vagabond of the streets; C3) any
 one leading nomadic life as an Amer ican Indian''
 "Bedouns,' by James Gibbons Hune- ker Charles Scribners Sons, publishers,
 New York City), follows this dehnie~n,
 being collection of his very best essays, beginning with a searching, intimate, de- liehtful study of the peerless Mary Gar den, for of course Mir. Hunekers affil- lations as a critic of music, naturally lead
 him to the great people and events of the musical world, and none is more fas- chatting heroine than "Our Own Mary" for any pen.
 MT. Huneker critically considers Miss Garden as a singer and an actress, and
  paints with a master hand, yeJ with frankness and abandon.
 His dedication" of "Bedouins' is unique to begin with, when he employs the sentiment
 "A la tres-bele, la tres-bonne, a la tres-chere."
 MT. Huneker first of all, declares Mary Garden to be Super Woman" and com ing as this statement does from the man. the critic, who, one of his review CTS dclares. has been variously described as 'the greatest living English master of English prose-: "a shallow poseur who juegles with words of which he does not even know the meaning;' the most prl- liant essayist America has ever pro- drced;' the worst possible type of American writer;'' "the erudte initiatof i of new school of critical writing" ana ! "the founder of sect of silly word-toss- ers.-l say, when such one takes his pen in hand to write of the lady whom | he introduces to us as "a condor, an eagle, a peacock. a nightingale, a pan ! ther, society dame, gallery of mov- 1 ing pictures, siren, an indomitable 1 fighter, human woman with healA as 1 big as house, a lover of sport, an elec- | tric personality, and a canny Scotch las sie"-something interesting in the book
 line is boaInd to happen, and of course | something did. James Huneker brought
 forth his "Bedouins" and every young
 reviewer in Manhattan, the Bronx and l the rest of the United States tried to be
 more smarty than the last in describing the new work. But really, is it their | fault if MT. Huneker's style, as cleanly | elaborate as a late Renaissance facade, prcvokes a sub-conscious desre to irni- | tate it? There as ps4ny ndar-Hune- kers writing criticism nowadays as tl>>'e are near-Gardens on the operatic stage | n nt iG ha Sur in oh cn
 a tremendous personality, richly equipped
 and defying rules in it's conscious self i expression.
 l After the chapter on "Superwoman" MT. Huneker further tells of Miss Gar l den's marvellous talents and personality
 in Intimate followed by the chapter l entitled "The Baby the Critic. and tie Guitar" while Interpreter" that won ] derful last chapter devoted to the peer l less Mary, on whose shoulders have fal- len the mantle of Mary Anderson, even | to the affectionate label of "Our Mary being given to her
 l MT Huneker reves in wonderful revela-
 tions of Miss Gardens personality, her | interpretations, her 'Thais' her Me Ilisande" her "Cleopatra," her "Monna l Narlna," her "Jongleur' and other roles.
 MT. Huneker delights in placing Eur l Mary" in the same light with Bernhardt l and Duse, declaring that the Divine | Sarah" was more brilliant; Duse mere human; the one an orches.ca, the other
 an exquisitely balanced s--ong quartet; 1 Mary Garden is the nearest approach to
 Duse on the lyric stage"
 | With the four wonderful chcfrers on l Mary Garden" he sums up her Car men," adding that Her Louise and Sa- lome, so dssimilar. yet both incompar- | able, need no belated praise; she is
 unique. And thus endeth the Book of Mary the Garden"
 Others included in Mir Hunekers book | are such diverse fantasts and Be douins' as DeBussy, Mirabeau, Caruso, Poe, Anatole France; and Botticelli, whlle | several fictions of exciting color are in- cluded.
 The chapter on Chopin or the Circus and "Caruso on Wheels" Venus or Val !kyr," and "The Vision Malefic," are mar l velously written-the employment of
 words, the prose painting. the technique, being absolutely unapproached by any other writer in America today.
 MT. Huneker stands in as sublmely l