Evening star., 1922-08-13
Reviews of New Books

genial satires of modern social life
takes day off-so to speak-grows
antic, splashes about. and broadens
generally in the direction of the farce.
Not that, with this writer in COM
mand, it ever reaches the low numor'
that is said, by technicians, to charac-
terize pure farce but it does achieve
the degree of eXaggeration that stamps
caricature al least. Not this in respect
to Peter himself however, for he is
an attractive, up-to date. complacent
young Enslishman. Nor does it apply
to the two young women of his early
philanderings and later decisions. 1t
is the human SettinG of these young
folks. the generation just behind them.
that is made to bear the brunt of alb
surdity that Mr.. Benson sees fit to
employ for the uses of social satire.
The father of Peter is buffoon. The
mother of the girl who finally becomes
his wife is a shrewd bargainer for
social gain with no end of money to
shape the deal in favor of herself One
fu!l-grown woman of the group is of the
order that kittens and friSks for the
notice of very young men. AS a matter
of fact she provides the neatest touch
OF all. These outlying perSonages sus-
tam the groteSque background against
which the trivial behaviors of the
central group come to pe,ercd -out
conclusion.
THE VILLA OF THE PEACOCK and
Other Stories. BY Richard Dehan,
author of The Dop Doctor" etc.
New York: George II. Doran Com
pany.
good plot set in some picturesque
quarter of the earth and worked out by
people who are enough like the rest of
US to be believable and sufficiently diff
ferent from the rest of US to be inter
estinG-these are the elements out of
which Richard Dehan has wrought.
more than once, with distinction and
appeal And this group of short stories
does not differ in this respect from the
novels that this author already holds to
of the first, and the longest, of these,
turns upon the fact that the boy king
OF certain toy kingdom has, within
MS realm. an exact counterpart in the
person of an ambitious youth of low de-
gree. Upon this coincidence the hewil-
dering. and interesting. matter grows to
prodigious intrigues and the circumven-
ton of these. The most of these vivid
tales cast back to the earlier romant
movement in writing-a movement that.
leaven the lump of soggy realism that
presses readers heavily at every turn.
making the reading Of noval nothing
different than some penitential rite.
The stories are a relief-ndeed, they
are rescue from too much realism
HOAN. New York: George H. Doran
Company.
Youth is in a self-revealing mood
In the literary fashion of the moment
the young writer takes his pen in
hand to tell the world all about. him
self and it. This vogue is piling up
a useful stock of evidence about a
period of life that has hitherto con-
cealed itself behind all manner of
"eif-protectlve accommodations and
deceptionS. The novel in hand is one
among a multitude of these intimate
disclosures. According to the aver
age novel readers notion. this is not
much of a story. Nothing happens
that is. there are few outside happen
ings. The bulk of the business goes
on inside the hero. or chief character.
1t is concerned with the fast-and-
loose attitude of Eugene Bennett to-
ward career. toward the young
males natural absorption in loving
and mating. He hopes to be writer.
and it looks as if he may be. but fail
ure in this respect will not utterly
spoil his life. He selects Leila
chiefly because she is handy-and
then Mary Louise for the same rea-
son. and Claudia also under no diff
ferent urge. sort of study in cas-
ualneSs is this account of Eugene
Bennett. In going over the ground
of himself he says: Il was taking a
part of myself seriously, but the rest
of me was a joke and the story Chat
he had written) was huge hoax"
individuality out of the common
stamps this story, which promises
more for the next attempt than il
actually delivers in this one.
@. f. u. BY Lee Thayer. author Of
The Unlached Door" etc. Frontis-
piece by the author. New York:
Doubleday. Page & Co.
1t looked like accident. or suicide
certainly not like murder. This
impression secured and driven in, the
author then opens the door, merely
a crack. upon suspicion. and. later.
wide upon conviction. From this
point on the story is in full swing
of pursuit following separate clues
that double and twist upon one an
other in way that not only keeps
the reader up and going. but that
sustains. as well. the complete sur
prise of the identity of the murderer
and the singular circumstances of
the crime. The setting of the adven-
adjoining country estates can sup
engaged in the innocent business of
a summer vacation. give the back
ground of well being out of which
the mysterious matter rises. The
title Of this adventure in crime indi-
Gates the authors intent at least, |
to draw out of the puzzling complex
a line of incident whose logic, when
once it is revealed. is no more to be
refuted than that of the exacting
science of mathematics. Action, color. ]