davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
The Heaven of Parody
By Hunter .Stagg

always with the knowledge G. its .s.!.
ors-been the means Of clearing ns:..
room legend and tradition tror
authors name, fixing him. b.ior. L.
verdict Of posterity, in hb' rns
niche.
However. if Louis Unternye, .I
depicted, along with tie chsu,
Heaven Of Parody. he must tavs pr
sented himself therein as he s.a
parodist Of mis- day, with, ra.srsl7
Donald Ogden Stewart sitting or bis
right hand. And, after all, tie boz.
itself serves that purpose. Il Ssws,;;
Parody Outline OF History began Ii.
work OF jacking parody back qat tt
rightful level OF excellence NJ Ii.:.
meyers Heavens" completes il.
1t re-estahli.hes badly ne::.s
standard. wedding as it doss III
humor. which is. and is yet 50 nsta
more than, Z sense OF Inc T:dcultas'
with deep critical sense. And this
it does not only in the several vision
Of heaven. but N a second division d
the book devoted 10 the Einstsi,
theory as it might be sung BY seven
teen representative American poets.
These parodies in verse have beer
hailed by better judges than IS pei
feet, but there is wider appeal in tie
prose pieces. Perhaps the best tang
about the book is that the who.e Of i
is done without one touch OF malt'
Mr.. Untermeyer's victims will get I"
many laughs and chuckles from hl;
work as any one else. One, indeed
Mr.. Cabell-has gazed upon the MS
chievous reproduction Of mis- ar saa
owned. with q grin, that he soalo
gladly have written II himself, IS one
might we'll believe, since that seh"e'
mans irony is commonly direc'so ~
less at himself than at the resi- OF me
world. Mr.. Uatermeyer. it seems, ''''
lures. but with tickles.
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
DR.. Halls ''Senescence"
By Burton Rascoe

Stanley published his heavily dumented work ADO
lescene" 1t became classic by sheer bulk and weight 1t was
badly written unseectyo pyoigous practically
everything subject made
nforaaton Psychologists
against Of
tne m tire revanes and tested data also and so confounded them
Now upon another
vouminous unselecve full of jargon,
badly exaporating. Appon),
getting nothing the conflicting
quotation of "Thanatopsi"
Bar" conclusion book Only volume
months which with multiplicity Of
Mencken The American Language
rave been reading off and daily for fortnight and have just
fnel and that only cheating the author by whole paragraphs
And yet nenlary illuminating thoughtpro-
in
IN nov Are concerned with the morals and manners OF the young
Are you free OF tuo DO you think about the hereafter? Are
particular about diet? Do distinguish readily
5 o you i' le mouse ana % o0S'e sue Oh 'ne re- 'ieS' Are
you posed and dg and attentive to others: Are you Gf feminine
Inclined jewels and beads other Do
deo pad Fatun Shoenberg Fitzgerald
Jazz "oe Do YOU Ike to give advice? Do prefer simple,
ernnted lucid style to involved subtle prose? Do
II you any questions the affirmative cd age is
ereepng it has its young you
are IN years Age is question Of the of endocrine
college Natural victory the large
intetnes the nto<n body tastes peu-
and ncnos finally Importantly immutable and in
dpuae standards but person possessing
them. e
This ponderabe fact which we should do we'll to bear
in mind if what hit advice revelation which
should find disturbing For may be many designs re-
whose claim thus to f m + w u ama 1 ATea @ s,o ny our seniors RS
tenetud And may imposed upon and fretted
shacle Us with their notions a b we S % ht, nav no , more 1,sn' 70
e them nave their Dada their Pcaba, their Stravinsky Nina
10y they them Tcnnyson Troop or Mlet
Mozart Or if we arc Young let the old have br nip
1'" tr lnn their Haydn if they them,
with our James Joyce Coeau Szumanowsk,
Review ''e
eescence for all its bulk wise compendium
@ ch us many things and not the least among these
the truth that life brief fight hosts in orr roe
" ana at as the battle victory we become
rot wiser and more important but merely and older
Among the novels your attention 9TH. love
| Of Aete Bunton by Gilbert Frankau; Abbe Pierre bv
LAY "Iam Huson "White and Black H A. Stands: "Peter
~ by Carl Van Vechen; "lr. by Arnold Bennett
o"e Yellow By Adous Huxley, Enormous Room, bv r
Cummings, N' ~ H.
c new non-cton books which have -
fs and Writer'S by A r. Poems from, the cl 4"
ny Waiter Leaf; Introducing Irony Maxwell Bodenhem and "sb
of the Sunburnt West,' by CARL Sandburq anu SaoS
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
The Lay Critic
S. A. C.

In her flight she catches little wisps of
loveiiness and freezes them with irony.
Yet her touch is subtle and confident,
never hurried or anxious.
In AT the Bay" she is most herself
To use Mr.. Lubbocks terms, she is both
scenic and panoramic. We see how she
IS preoccupied with numberess little
things, all OF which make up the chief
oolors of the locality and the people
IN IL. whole scene thus painted in
mosaic patches Is used as background
for the tragedy of q young girl in
whom life is so highly compressed
that she seems to be throttled by her
narrow environment. Baked and
tempted, hesitant and daring, modest
and pagan, little snapshots of a girl
on the beach with the woman of th.
world, or at her window at night viii III
inexpressible longings gnawinc at her
heart. Reality like cage is all about
her; She batters her wings against th.
bars.
"The Garden Party" is a story closer
to Chekhov. In his story THE Party"
1T Is the pregnant condition of the
wife which gives the dissonant note,
the symbol of reality, to the otherwise
harmonious artihciality. In Miss Mans
fields story it is the death of a laborcr
just outside the gate and the impres.
sion this accident makes upon the con-
sciousness of Laura-the weighing
down sense that outside these festivi-
ties lies a dead man. 1t is the
record OF the girls Consciousness. So
she is led inevitably to the corpse, fac
ing 1T as one of the unpleasant facts
OF life, which jolts all her sense Of
values and brings truth and depth tn
something artificial and superficial.
Some of the other stories are not
quite so successful The Young Girl'
and THE Lady's Maid" slip over the
edge of the ineligible. But even
among "knockout' fiction no pit of
the stomach ending could be more
powerful than THE Stranger" Booth
Harrington never did anything better
than Her First Ball"
Only the greatest artists can make
the commonplace so exciting. Hard
and shrcwd. as inexorable a. life T..
self, Miss Mansfield arrests the hiqhlv
significant triviality. We are made
terribly aware of Ma Parker, with no.
where to cry, her choking futlitv a.
bitter. as poignant, as true as tn.
Hairy Apes cropping in the dark. She.
too, finds that she does not belong
One is moved by the sheer clarity of
such writing. Like Leila we ask "Why
didn't happiness last forever? Forever
wasn't bit too long Like Miss Brill
we enjoy sitting in other peoples
lives just for a minute while they
talk" HORACE C. COON
Livingston Hall, Columbia University.
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28

I'll. C.. Wells's New Novel
By Montgomery Belgion

at the time he set on. ;.
Secret Places" Gould :. Ipi'' h,
his manuscript aside f. naVaaa
picked It up later. tbo g. TIM saa
have been indeed valn.t1. t1''o'f Oh.
Of the signs of ca,o,..
mention. paren+net;c,I- tala
20 John Harvey Pob;. fsfsn,.
70 The Portrait of -. anon.
Young Man. t1e laf4.r .< Hu'nor
be very aronsin, = = "hlch 'ul5
purpose. In the ordi,. Dssn do'o,
slips might be lsid - IL. "ay &c,
in this instance taev ara hI', printed rsut
f deeper owl. sHaE3a
Mr. Wells takes a. enir.
pert on the verge Of hr..,.s +'ees
him consult nervous So. -,A hias
the pair agree 70 take r,o..
gether, during which ..o I 'f,ta.
to get at the root NJ t,o . f aes
n brief spell the author. ia '''
rcappears in his dclinsa4;o, 'ursrs
part's wife in the second 49,. mex
then hc settles down a,a;, :. lid
himself The tr:p hs4 ,., not
when the oxpert met, :. On'
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
Letters to the Editor

Know S!1 1T as we know our a b c's. But
IKE every other place, too, there is the
other side. - '"o
There are fixed social laws in Vir-
slhia-l have just returned from q
vlslt there-that should, in our ad
vanced DAY, be modified. There is a
cruel relentlessness as to department
an absurd Difference to blood rather
IMAM worth, form rather than right
that has not only not changed since the
unique civilization of slavery davs but
soildlhed. Some of these laws are sim
iul: a man may still dcbase himself
IN the old slavery days fashion and ho
gentleman without question. and a
woman must still be free from human
sex error or take the punishments that
have outlined in my novel.
o 10 mat the story is typical. 1t is
out of those horrors and injustices
that the novel was born, and Ak 70
these things | claim that it challenres
denial G VTpE GI,S,r'IitSe rVr IS
lo5 East Fifteenth Street, New York
City. '''" oiA
DIR. Berman Replies
Pear Sir-My attention has been
called to the fact that YOU have ouoted
an opinion on my book. "The Glands
Regulating Personality" by DR.. Wal.
Ter kraus, who knows rather little Of
lhe supJect. | therefore take the lib
erty of sending you reprint Of a re-
view by Professor Oliver T. osborne
occupant of the chair of therapeutjcs
IN the Yale Medical School, who is an
authority on the field, author of nun.
per of articles on it, and has devoted
IA pages to il in his latest worl[
PRINCIPLES Of Therapeutics. Let me-
also refer you TO review in the Ian
uary number of THE journal Of Ncr.
vous and Mental Diseases" bv Profes-
ssor Smith Ely Jcliffe. one of the best
known neurologists in the citv. As
you have entered this controver
sal held, 1t would only he elementary
fairness for you to print a quotation
from the inclosed review, and any part
OF TINS letter you see fit 1t is obvious
that Professor Osborne has everv right
to the claim Of authority as to What is
authoritative and scientific in this mat
ter, while DR.. Kraus has mono.
LOUIS BERMAN.
Quotation from the inclosure
This The Glands Regulating parso,
aity) Is the most Interesting and anli i@bt
cnInH H o0ok on endocrinoiogy that tha re :
waiver mas e'sr read. II reads like a
no'el ana hoids fth" attention from sta
70 nnish The author presents not oniv
nus hrst hand knowledge of the suhisnt
out also his conclusions from comnInte a
ana dlscrimina ting study of the vast NJ :
erature. oliver r. Osborne. M. - yaia
School OF Medicine. ~ A0'o
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
A Symphonist Con Sordino
By Louis Untermcyer

hills and horns blown through duskY
strument; the timber of the brasses
never reaches our cars. CPunch, The
Immortal Liar" is startling excep-
tion to all these stricturcs). Aiken
has written, for the first time in our
poetry, series Of movement
symphonies to be played scmprc piano,
con sordino.
Another feature of Aiken's program
music which has made it difficult for
it's listeners is his dsincination to
give titles to the individual parts Of
his book. Sometimes this refusal is
justified; sometimes, as in the present
volume, it is merely provoking and
pointloss. "Priapus and the Pool con-
sists of an Introductory dialogue and
twcnty-four subsequent lyrics that
have only the vaeucst relation to tho
title poem or to each other. A fcw of
them. indeed, are so sentimentaiv cut
Of the picture that they call for an
explanation no less than a caption.
But, considered separately, some Of
these songs are IS grave and subtly
moving as those of any lyricst writ
ing in America to-day. The fifth poem
Originally called "Portrait Of a Girl"
when it appeared in Broom" is elo-
quent proof of this. SO are the more
flexible lines that begin:
See now. after all these DAYS have the
strength.
Yes. now at length.
To drive YOU forth, pale ghost Al. now
With flowers for whips and my dun heart
And noE you out OF tho shadow of my
brain.
The tenth poem (beginnins "Therc is
nothing moving there. in that desert of
silencc') is scarcely less distinguished
And here are the first three verses
referred to:
This is the shape of the leaf. and this of
And this the pale bole of the tree
Which ysadyin wadrhHs it's housh in pool of un-
In a land We neN er shall see.
rhe 'hrISh f.l on, on the boush Is silent, the dow
In the evening is hardly sound.
ANA the three beautiful pilgrims " no come
here together
Touch lightly the dust OF the ground
Touch it with feet ;hat trouble the dus,
bat as Wings do
Come shyly together. are still
Like dancers who wait, IN a pause of the
music. for music
The exquisite silence to all
Such lines establish Aiken. But.
though the author of them may be dis
eruntled, they do not place him in the
niche he is anxious to occupy. These.
the much-quoted "Morning Song Of
Senlln," the best OF the early Dis.
cordants"; the brief and often exquisite
melodies in "Variations" reveal Aiken
as writer of songs rather than =
creator of symphonies. And, although
1t may not limit the ambition of the
musician, it may comfort him to re-
member that even Beethoven was not
equally successful in both roles.
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28


Aiken Dunster House. Cambridge, Mass.
"HE case of Conrad Aiken is one
OF the most puzzling studies of
energy and Illustration in con-
temporary literature Unable
TO adjust himself, either as poet or per-
son, to his environment, he has left
his local habitation no less than three
times for Europe. No sooner has the
man unpackcd his boxes in London than
he is cursing himself for having left
South Yarn outh. Torn between two
countries, two cultures, he cannot get
himself to accept or rcpudiate either
HIS published products reflect the f1uct-
uations Of this apathy and restless
ness. They are, by turns, as dssimi-
larly influenced and as original as the
work not only of one poet but half
dozen might be. For all their differ
ences in theme, they speak with one
idlom, an idiom new to American
poetry. And yet, in an era of fierce
championships and fercer enmities,
Aiken has had few foes and fewer
friends. Himself candid controvcr-
sialist his poetry has somehow received
neither the bufcts nor the benefits of
controversy In short, Aiken, as the
author of some nine volumes, suffers
not only from a paucity of praise but
from lack of appraisal
Examining the bulk of these reveal
ing books, the most outstanding quail
ity encountered is Aiken's dcsixe to be
verbal symphonist. This desire is
sometimes implicit, sometimes actually
declared on the title page. And here.
at the very outset, one encounters the
chief defect in the poets musical pro-
gram. His symphonies consist of one
movement only: the slow movement.
There are no contrasting allecros. no
sudden scherzoa, no presto PASSAGES To
vary and accentuate his themes-only
chain Of lyrical lamentosos, andantc
cantabiles, sustained and singing
adagios, Often the titles themselves
set the tempt as we'll as the temper OF
the compositions. For example, "Noc
turne of Remembered Spring." "The
House Of Dust" The Charnel Rose"
Even The Jig Of Forslin" is timed for
sad and slowlymoving feet.
RUT it is not only the measured pace
Of Aiken's melodies that limits his
audience, it is the manner in which
ne orchcstrates them. The strength
seems to go out Of his limpid syllables;
his phrases tend to a succession of
minor modulations, to pale cadence.
deliquescent, dying fall. Watery
flutes, muffled oboes, muted violins
carry this music through a progress
sion of nebular half-tones, translunar
nuances Of color. Aiken, seemingly
aware OF monotony of woodwinds.
often attempts to emphasize his scores.
he oVer-compcnsates by continual al
luslons to trumpcts sounded on purple
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
MR.. CANBY'S JANITOR

Dear Rascoe: John Macy is exceed
lngly impatient with that ianitor who
reviewed "Vocations,' by Gerald O'Don-
ovan, tor The Literary Review" The
poor 1eIlow's syntaX was weak in one
sPot' out no more SO than Macy's ply
;sloaoey "nen ne suggests that hysteria
- norma surely a strange abuse of
that word. But what may interest
your readers, and perhaps hearten
Henry Seidel Canby's janitor. are
few Lines from the literary supplement
or The London Times" on the suh-
ject of this book.
This is what Lord Northcliffe's "hol]-
porter said: "If his tale is uncon.
vlnclng, it is because the action and
environment are unreal. The author
mas not drawn from observation. as in
MS hrst book. He has placed his
v0catoniess nun in an invented milcu.
wh,cn AL his racy humor, dry satire
ana Dr'lllancc Of style cannot render
tlsa'oie. th 49,. The atmosphere is
unbalanced mood spoils the book BOTH
as story and as criticism of 1r;sh
!ife: Drumbawn does not exist in
Catholic Ireland, because it could not
exlst eei on the globe, so the real sins of
ireland so unscathed."
fiacing this beside the general in.
credullty of every Irish person know
who has read "Vocations," and recall.
ing George Moore's avowed and ludi.
crous anti Catholic prejudices, am
inclined to think Mr.. Candy was wise
to have the novel reviewed in brief
note by the janitor, obviously an Irish.
man mar and acquainted with Gerald
ODonovan's work
ERNEST BOYD.
The South
Dear Sir: In your columns r. v
Helm takes issue with Thomas Dixon
tor saying the pictures of Virginia III.
IN my. recent novel, "Children Of Trans.
gression,' are "merciless in their ar.
cuTacy' May ask this gentleman or
lady one question? -
Why has this novel, telling the story
OF dozen selected people to meet the
requirement of one phase of life there
been taken as typical of the life Of tn.
entire population? My father and
mother were Virgininns. There are . g
many beautiful characters in Virpinia
as IN any other place. Human nature
is the same. There are good and bad
everywhere. Virginia, like everv other
place, has its idealistic side. All! it's
writers have assured US Of this. We
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
The Bugs Homer

MORE BEETLES. BY j. Henri Fabre.
Translated by Alexander Teiaelra de
biattos. Dodd Mead Co.
I'm this most recent Of the series
of translations of Fabre, one will
find the charm of manner, the
humor and the Imagination typi-
cal Of that inimitable observer. AS
the title Indicates, the book is de-
voted entirely to beetles; and, as is
usual with Febre, the insects are pre-
scnted for our inspection with a dig
tinctness and reality that places them
almost in the category of old ac-
qualntances We see beetles toiling
energetically for their future family,
father and mother cooperating in per
feet team work; we observe with in
terest that the insects arc able to
recognize each other, and refuse any
substitutes for their mates; we watch
them working under artificial cond-
tions and discover that, with what is
either a marvellous instinct or a we'll
developed intelligence, they refuse to
work when conditions are such as 70
prevent the development of their
progeny.
"The Vegetarian Insects" "The
Dwarfs," "Some Anomalies" and "The
Gold Beetles" are among the subjects
treated in this volume; and one and
all are described with a skill that turns
natural history into fairyland, and
makes the study Of entomology more
fascinating than the reading of the
vast majority of novels.
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28
A N INITIATIVE faculty is, of course

A N INITIATIVE faculty is, of course,
indispensable to parody; the true
parodlst must be able to seize upon
and nicely cxaggcrate the stylistic pc
culiarlties Of his victim. But he should
De able to grasp as we'll the spirit Of
the work he is parodying, the phi!os-
ophy, motives and i.eals OF the author.
That done, he may exercise his h hmor
as ne Will, uproariously, slyly or malic-
iously, but he is all the while mincling
with his fun good, sound Judgment; in
other words, he is working in true
parody, one of the best mediums Of
criticism. a good laugh clears much
clutterment from the mind, and a GOOD
parody may-ndeed has, often, and not
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28

Ian Company, rs the latest
fiction product" Of II G. Wells, is an
event to be deplored. Few Of the vol
ume's (it is to be hoped) rare readers
will doubt that but for the author's 5
reputation IT would not have seen the
light. Yet this reputation must suffer
rather than gain as a result
30 writer need ever explain that he
docs not always 90 his best and many
circumstances conspire to-day to bring
about tho publication Of all an estah-
lishcd mon scribbles, be it good or
nccliejble. But Mr.. Wells has an cx-
ccptional responsibility. In his name
stand a number Of books which have
illuminated and fred host Of adol-
csccnts' growing minds and emotions;
the influence Of these books is IN
diminished for those who in turn are
becoming adocscents.
These do not always know what TO
choose and il is conccivabl that many
who would benefit tremendously from
the previous works Of Mr.. Wells will
never get the chance TO do so if they
have tho misfortune to make his ac-
quaintance in this story. Many per
sons have never read Sir Walter Scott
because they tried to begin with one
of the novels of his decline.
New-York tribune., 1922-05-28

HEAVENS Ry Louis UntermeYer. Pub
lished by Harcourt. Brace z 90.
50 this" exclaimed With ghos.ly
IA acntiousness 'Hs KeaVen.'
NO said my guide YOU are now IN a
Kind of ante-cha amber in which the guest is
left to decide where he viii go
''f3ut have decided | replied With
anxious haste. Il wan, to go to Heaven
Which one - he asked
which one? Why--er-are there more
than one" ! gasDed.
There are" he ol.ed II The latest
hundred and seventy six Of them. not in
cludina, the threeScore or 80 Of Secession -
ist. Fxueniss. Intlniate. neigh hborhood.
which have clustered around the main
structures.
VHHUS does Louis Untermeyer
b open breezily the prologue Of
his new book, which at once
sweeps on to the Celestial ap-
plicant's crafty decision to test out
several of the available heavens be
fore committing himself TO ore: ard
thus does Mr.. Untermcyer introduce
in succession his visions OF such vari-
and widely divergent Hereafters
as might be designed and inhabited By
Gilbert Chesterton. H. g. Wells.
George Moore. James Branch Cabell
and such prophets Of the Middle West
as Sinclair Lewis, Sherwood Anderson
and Floyd DELL
II is a choice selection, as is pro
claimed b. their titles. The HEAVIER
OF Queer Stars, The Heaven of the
Time Machine,' The Heaven Of Lost
Memoirs The Heaven Above Storys-
onde,' The Heaven OF Mean Streets. -
In fact. since book OF this kind must
not be too long, there is only one title
whose absence from the list might be
seriously regretted, and that is The
Heaven OF Parody
For under such a title M. Inter
meyer might have shown US some
thing of the ups and downs OF the art
ne so brilliantly practices here. 1t
would have been, Of course. mostly
downs, a pillorying of misapplcations
and an uncoveriAg of prevailing mis-
apprehensions. Considering how many
people. from Shelley down TO the oc-
caslonal contributors to f. P. AS
column, have attempted pa,odies.
It is astonishing how few have
grasped the essence of parody. Es-
pecially in our own times has the art
heen cheapcned. so that most OF US
have all but forgotten that it is more
tran mere imitation of the surface
pecullarlties OF Hamlet's Soliloouy,
The Rubaiyat.' sDanny Deever" and
The Cremation of Sam McCee.' so
mat, IN short, most of US have come
to accept in its place something that
Is not really parody at all, but
burlesque.