Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-02-02
BOOKS

Robert Cortes Holiday goes through
an ordinary day. He rides on the troll
ley, he saunters down the street, visits
the postofflce, the general store, the
restaurant and the railway station. He
meets friends, cronies, strangers, clerks,
specimens of call walks Of life" Moth
ing escapes his notice. He writes about
these people, brief pen pictures that fit
through his day like scraps of lille on
movie film. He tells how they look, how
they talk, how they act and react and
the series becomes a little book which
wears the only title 1t could bear,
Peeps at People" You read the book
and wonder that Holiday knows people
you know and meets people you meet
and peeps at people you see, but you
didn't know you saw these people until
Holiday wrote his little volume and you
read it, 1t takes a seer to make us see
and then, too, Holiday was Hoosier.
George H. Doran Co.
i i II
famous old negro cook was one
time asked NANNY, how do you make
up your mincemeat?" "Lordy, Honey,
she replied, ~ don't mix it, it jes' Gu
mulates" Christopher Morley must have
known. that cook. His "NHnce Pie" Of
u.
a 'cumuIation" of all the necessary and
strange ingredients, spices ard fiavors
which are necessary to tasty morsel
for the hungry reader. He says it should
be read in bed but that is no time for
mfnce pie unless the author naively
knows that no one will nod or dream
over his writings. But If one does 1oIl
over a revery we can assure him 1t VIII
bo a day dream and not nightmare.
Perhaps Hoosiers viii be most keenly
interested in "Old Bob" beca~se this
delectable ingredient Of "Mince Pie was
derived from Indiana. In this chapter
Holiday has his Boswell If ever any
one but Johnson had. Morley is one
Of the clever group Of essayists who
are creating a new literature and wide
circle of friends. Taste "Mince Pic"
YOU may read much and not ruin your
digestion.
i r. r.
Hoosier readers who know walking
Stick Papers" and the few who know
their author, Robert Cortes Holiday,
viii welcome ':Broome Street Straws,"
from the press of George H. Doran Co.
Robert Holiday is coming into his own
as an essayist, humorist and satirist
Somehow we feel that his youth spent in
indianapolis gives a peculiar quality to
his writings. He sees through Indiana
glasses. He has the quaint philosophy
tht seems to US familiar. He speaks to
our minds and hearts like one Of our
own kin. This impression may be vague
and indistinct, but 1t pervades his writ
ines and we are again and again con
scious of the feeling that the writer Is
familiar with the world we know.
"Broome Street Straws" are the scat
tered fiotsam of many moods, but Holli-
day has gathered and bound them be-
tween the covers of one volume that the
reader can open anywhere and at any
time. and at random select straw that is
worth thought and attention. The tired
business man and the lover of the old
west with its wild and woolly adven-
lures. will find in Lynch Lawyers" by
william Patterson White, a story as full
Of thrills as q movie film. The story is
more largely composed of conversation
and rapid action than any we have read
in many days.
"The Great Impersonation" is said to
be the best story ever written by p.
Philips Oppenheim. IL is a theme that
finds its foundation 50 real and recent
conditions in England, and at least one
or two characters seem historic bat the
story is compelig interest and tn,
suspense IS maintained until the great
surprise which is the climax Of the mar
rative We will guarantee that the reader
viii not find a dun page and that the
author outguesses him in the end.-Lit-
tie, Brown & Co.