The mirror., 1923-04-19
MODERN WRITERS
CONTINUED from mage y

StahuS tHe winning PiihCiPiCS VI uidiha,
having written successful play Come
dians ALL" His reviews are dispas-
sionate, devoid of petty mud-slinging If
play pleases him he praises it, if it is
simply one more mechanical production,
he revies it. George Jean Nathan as
author of "The World in Falseface," "The
Theatre, The Drama, The Girls" and
The Critic and the Drama" has taken
his public back-stage where he acts as
guide entertainly and convincingly.
In recent years there has been notice
able trend toward the novel that is en-
tertaining and still food for profound
thought Writers are becoming psychia-
trists, given to probing the depths of the
human soul in quest of new emotions.
On the other hand there is an increasing
demand for stories of rapid action, as
evidenced by the great number of adven-
ture books published within the last few
months Neither phase of this charge is
indicative of change in the public. 1t
is, as it always was, a matter of taste
The intellectual wants something that act
as brain food and the average Ameri-
can is looking for thrill. There will
always be what is known as ''red-blooded
felton," just as there will always be
treatises on matters profound
1t is every persons privilege to select
the form of amusement that he favors,
and if the literati deplore the increasing
number of readers of Harold Bell Wright
Zane Grey, or Gene Stratton Porter they
are transgressing upon inalienable ground
Let them write novel that the average
reader can understand and appreciate
and they will have no cause for this petty
lampooning
We cannot all be six feet tall, or have
curly hair, and there are limitations that
would restrict our entrance into, the class
populated by intellectuals. l am not
"high-brow" and | am rather proud of
it. can appreciate grand opera but
prefer jazz l read literature more as a
duty than as a means of entertainment
and | am one of the multitudious num-
her of individuals who will buy the kind
of book best known as "corking good
tale"
Harold Bell Wrights and Gene STRAIT
ton. Porter's books could not have a place
on my shelf. We all have our favorite
authors although it is somewhat of task
to decide our preferences Mine are
Joseph Hergesheimer, Joseph Conrad ana
Peter b. Kyne.
James Oliver Curwood would find
favor in the eyes of readers who like
fine descriptive style. To me, his novels
are too howery. 0. Henry has more
oopyers than any other writer but O.
Henry was a short story writer and we
are considering only novelists or authors
Of longerSSork.
When | read western story / expect
the usual ingredients the two gunmen,
rusters, and the fitting climax, and l am
5 never disappointed as all writers who
deal with the West employ the same
figures, setting, and similar plot-scope.
Zane Grey is the most prolific of them all,
with William Mcleod Raine, Clarence
E. Mulford, B. NJ. Bower, Jackson Gre
CORY and Charles Alden Seltzer not far
behind. Max Brand has written but one
coed novel, and that "The Untamed."
There was no call for a sequel. After
reading the one that appeared the writer
failed to hold the interest that he had
gained. "Alcatray," his latest book, holds
much promise, and l look forward to the
reading of it. Eugene 'Manlore Rhodes
is the greatest writer of western fiction
| believe.
The story that is palpably impossible
in real life does not interest me. For that
reason the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs
do not satisfy. | am not sufficiently fa-