The Washington herald., 1921-03-05
WANTED, A FOOL. by PhiHp Cur
REVIEWS

"ANTEDt A FOOL, by Ph1hp Cur
tiss. (Harper and Brothers.)
An erstwhile actor returned from
the war answers an advertisement
headed Wanted: A Fool" His ad-
ventures, naturally. are many and
hair-raising. There are SO many
complications and so many side-is-
sues dragged into the story that at
times 1t becomes arduous reading.
but there is plenty Of action under
meath all the wanderings and philos-
ophizing. There is also good deal
Of the stage atmosphere which Mr..
Custiss has handled so successfully
in the past, a love interest. and nu-
merous- thrills. The story is too
cluttered, however. for comfort, and
one feels that II the author would
try 1t again. cutting out all un-
necessary complications this time. 1t
would be a far better and more in
teresting performance.
Frederick O'Brien, author of
white Shadows in the South Seas {
is scheduled to join a party OF
young college men and scientists
who have sailed from Los Angeles
for a trip Of two years. durins
which they will visit and study
many peoples in little-knovn
islands from the Tropic Of, Cancer
to the Tropic of Capricorn. The
Wisdom ii has already sailed. and
Mr.. 0'Brien Is scheduled to join the
party in Samoa shortly. He Is
completing his latest book. Mystic
Isles of the South Seas, which the
Century Company will publish this
Wisdom II will FIRST visit the
Marauesas Islands, the scene of Mr..
O'Brien's white Shadows { in the
South Seas" From there they go
to Samoa. Tahiti. the Fills, the
Tonga group, the Westward Is
lands, and then eastward on their
voyage around the world. The
Wisdom II is said to be supplied
with the most elaborate photo
graphic equipment, and Mr.. O'Brien
will no doubt return with a mar
velous collection of pictures. as we'll
as with material for future books.
Most of the newspaper critics. af-
ter the first New York perform
ance of Miss Lulu Bett" by ,Zona
Gale. said that this play, now an
established success, represented
Miss Gales first venture In play
writing. As matter, of fact, Q
one-act play by Miss Gale, The
Neighbors," which appeared in the
first of two volumes of .sWiseousin,
Plays" published by B. w. Huebsch,
is one of the most popular >one-act
plays in America and has been
acted repeatedly by professional
and amateur organizations since It's
first performance at Madison, Wis
consin. So great has been the pop
ularity of Miss Gales play that MT.
Huebsch has been obliged to print
II separately. -.,
.yelyet Black" is the title Of
collection OF short stories, tales OF
mystery all of them. by Richard
washburn Child, which e. p. Dut-
ton & Co. have in train for publir
cation soon Mr.. Child's The Van
ishing Men" will be remembered as
one of the successful novels Of last
winter-an absorbing story Of ad-
venture. mystery and romance. ~.
The Houghton- Miffiin Company
announces publication of the fol-
Lowing new books: ELLEN Lewis.
"a novel by Elsie Singmaster tau
thor of .Basil Everman"), Arteur
Chapman's new volume of Western
verse, Cactus Center;' "A. New
England Group and Others" tshel-
burne Essays, eleventh .serfes6 .oy
paul Elmer More; a biography OF
ltDavid Urquhart," the English dip
lomat, by Gertrude Robinson;
"French Civilization" by Albert
Leon Guerard., Lord wiiioughby de
Droke's Hunting the Fox "Grain
ana Chaff from an English Manor"
| by Arthur II. Ssvory. and special
limited edition of Henry Cabot
Lodges Plymouth oration. The Pil-
griuis Of Plymouth"
It is said that d. H. Lawrence ap-
pears in an entirely new vein. in
| his novel "The Lost Girl" to be
published Immediately by Thomas
| SeItzer. The theme of The. Lost
lGiri" may be said to be-'why are
J there old maids and how q prevent
them" and Il 10 unfolded : rip