New-York tribune., 1922-10-15
The Glamour of the West
BY Paul Bunyan

q
TALES or LONELY TRAILS. By Zane
Grey Harper q BFcs
THE RETURN or BLUE PETE BY Luke
Allan George ii. Doran Company.
FROZEN JusTIcE. By Ejnar Mikkeisen.
Alfred A. knopf.
THE TIMBER PIRATE. By Charles
Ghrlssapher Jenkins. George II. Doran
ACROSS THE MESA. BY Jarvis Hall.
Penn Publishing Company.
THE TRAIL OF CONFLIcT, BY Emile
Lering. Penn Publishing Company.
r-H HE study of literary sources
is usually accounted a pastime
fer bookworms only. The mill
run Of readers seldom go be-
hind the returns. To do so
would spoil the illusion for them. Very
probably they will not know they are
DONG SO when they take up Zane
Grey's latest book, his fourth pubIica-
sion this year, by the way. "Tales OF
Lonely Trails" But here is Mr.. Grey's
notebook; and by what il omits as
we'll as what it includes, it is testi-
mony to his powers of invention. 1t
tells his personal experiences in his
beloved West, his explorations and
wanderings, in search of game, fish,
scenery, and incidentally, copy
The jacket says Mr.. Grey's "reaI
adventures are no less thrilling than
his novels" They appear to be so
to himself; but he thrills with facility,
On every other page he has thrill:
and when not thrilling he chills. or
yeils. On great occasion, as mono
OF these reactions seems adequate, he
rs worked into frenzy" Only once
10 the whole book does he confess to
being absolutely silenced." That was
az signt OF the Rainbow Bridge, Nom
Hezosne, somewhere in the mounta as
OF Arizona. 1t must be wonder.
fortunately, he recovered his pow,rs
oI speech Tor the quest of Nonnezoshe
concludes on page eighteen, and tn re
are nearly four hundred pages all ttls
All a. told is right. He omits nothing
anat makes 1T hard book to revi w.
one wants to deal with it in the Same
generous, spirit, to linger over every
paragraph, to pick out the plums and
chew them lusciously and lingerjnpl,,
Cne oi wants to quote interminabIy
ohoosing is serious problem.
for instance, there is the Temptation
TO dwell upon the striking Originality
OF THIS comment upon the town of
tampa. 1T will picturesque but idle.
ana better name for it would have
oeen Sleepy Hollow" The literary
meditations upon the trail to Betaikin
the ancient village of the Cliff Dwell,
crs; With the sight of those loftv
walls and the scent of the dry, swpet
sage there rushed over me stranra
feeling that Riders of the Purple Sare;
was true" A disconcerting sensation
1or novelist; enough to make him
chill, or yell, or both.
Pathos and human nature abound
once the noted author got tur,ed
around--forgot the way back to camn
ne expresses it better: SIT developed
that our whereabouts was q mystrrv
to me. The sun had become connie a.
iy obllterated, fine rain was falling
the forest had grown wet and dis.
NAL" All was lost but style; and in
especlai, the chuck wagon could not be
located In this predicament he re-
called his three-year- infants
chronic complaint around meal times.
I'm starv-ved to DEATH" to which he
ADDS: How strange to remember him
when was lost in the forest" 'Tis
passing strange. Only, though l have
pondered it deeply, can't for the life
OF mo decide what would have been
appropriate to remember in such cir
cumstanccs.
Then there is Imagination. He came
across deserted ranch house, the old
Jones ranch. "Abe Jones! The name
haunted me. In one clear, divining
flash / saw the life of the lad. I
yearned with tremendous passion for
the power to tell the simplicity, the
ruggedness, the pathos and glory of
his story. The moan of the wind in
the pines seemed a requiem for the
boy who had prattled and romped and
played under them, who had chopped
and shot and rode under them. Into
his manhood had gone something of
their strength and nature" Why. he
mad good start right there, plenty of
power, hitting on all six He had only
10 go ahead: Instead, he went to bed;
and the world lost masterpiece.
There is some action, of course.
hassoing. mountain lions, for instance,
by Buffalo Jones. And shooting griz-
z!les. Those activities, as first men
toned, were Mr.. Grey's ostensible OBJ
)ectives IN penetrating the Wilderness
and shattering the Great Silences. A
secondary, or tertiary, motive was to
have his picture taken. There are sew
eral IN the list of illustrations. The
trontispiece shows him as a distin-
guished author, stern and purposeful
and clean cut and decidedly handsome
Later we see him with weeks growth
ef whlskers, looking sadly like any or
dlnary man with weeks growth Of
whiskers. 1t is also a trife disillusion-
ing to learn that he can not only get
lost in the Wide Open Spaces, but is
sometimes saddle CALLED and generally
dog tired. His heroes never are. to
the best Of my recollection. Yes. and
Mr.. Grey takes guide. Suspiciouslv
Ike tenderfoot, in fact The old
timer says: "Now that they've built
the Panama Canal, don't need guide
anywhere in North America" But the
oidtimer, on the other hand. cannot
write novels.
Only Mr.. Grey himself could EIDE.
quateiy review this book. And even
ne could not do it in miserable hall
column. na'A
Novels such as "The Return Of Blue
peie'" IN which the Northwest Mounted
Poilce figure prominently, / also find
hard to deal with, but for another rea
SON, lndelibly imprinted upon INV
mind are pictures of the police / used
to know. and chiefly of asgood looking
husky youth {the physical require.
ments were high in those days) sittine
by our friendly fire with NV elder SIC.