Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-18

lation between art and the artist. A
great statue stands on It's own merits
II its creator were utterly unknown. Al
still would be great work.
Yet from another, and more human
viewpoint, the creator Is not only him
self, but he also is the very work of
art which he creates, be It painting.
statue, book, poem.
The best that is In him, in all prob
ability. goes into his work. Therefore
he, as human being, must never be
judged short of his work.
The curious thing Is that so many
readers, while they recognize the essen
tial interest in the man behind the
book, refuse TO view him in connection
with his work.
Selecting his foibles, they rather tend
no genius-he is just q man, like us!"
y
One of the greatest satisfactions in
reading comes in arriving at that point
Of interest in an authors books when
one must find out something about the
man himself.
This Is such a common phenomenon
that publishers are not slow to cater to
the. appetite for facts about favorite
authors.
b No sooner does a writer, especially a
novelist, arrive at popularity, than some
other noted author is sure to pop up
with a book explaining" his distin-
gulShed contemporary.
Usually the public gobbles up these
explanatory books In fair quantities.
The termination of any noted novelistS
career Immediately gives rise to q
hock-there is no other word-of biog-
raphies and "reminiscences.
1t is universally recognized not only
that the book was the man, but that
the man was the book, which Is not
exactly the same thing, but which Is
fully as interesting.
One should not make the mistake,
however, of considering facts about au-
thors Of more interest than their writ
ings. Their printed words must con-
stitute their all-in-all, in the last anal
ysiS, the best part of them, after all.
They should have first place.
The small chitchat about authors,
whether this noted playwright is going
around the world and what he Is doing
as he goes, has little to do with it.; the
essential thing Is to know some real
facts about the man and to attempt to
put them into place in ones own mind
in relation to his printed works.
Yes, his play Is noble-shall we for
get its nobility because he has gotten
into a fight with some fool halfway
around the world?
Such things happen to all men and
have nothing at all to do with such
an author, when he is in the way of
producing a great play, or q great
novel, or q great poem.
What Is essential to know about the
man is what the slang expression puts
so graphically, "how ne got that way"
Creation with the printed word Is a
great and glorious adventure, univer-
sally recognized with the masterpieces,
but adhering to some extent to all
writing honestly conceived and decently
meant. Even dullness or haste cannot
take away this essential flavor Of great
ness which clingS to the printed page.
We have read descriptions of prize
fights, hastily banged out on a type
writer at the ringside, which smacked
Of glory.
A decent interest in writer's is neces-
sary If q reader is to get the most from
his reading. Books are not things dug
out Of sand, but built up in the minds
of human beings. Behind each piece
Of writing stands human being. To
know that man, even specifically, Is
to add to ones stock of knowledge; to
know him with tolerance and under
standing is even better; then he adds to
his book, as his book adds to the man,
and both add to the reader.