Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-19


Of body and spirit make the adjustment that
converts an atmless youth into an active man.
A very beautiful stoFy-study nnaybe-of the
accommodations Of man TO new demands and
interpretations Of the things by way of
which he has grown from youth TO- manhood
KING OF FASHION: The Autobiography of
Paul Poiret. Translated by Stephen Haden
Guest. Illustrated. Philadelphia: J. B.
Lppincott Co.
DORM In q little room behind his fathers
cloth shop. the baby's clear birthmark was
in the tips Of his fingers, feeling for fabrics.
In his eyes, too q sense Of color. As soon as
he could play at all his games with bits
Of velvet and silk and soft woods, making lovely
rainbow patches and ribbons Of these. A silly
game for q boy, % the thrifty father thought.
But do what he could, nothing would wean the
lad from these feminine engross nents. Such
was the beginning of artist whose medium
was fabrics fashioned to enhance the beauty of
women where other artists, working toward the
same end, made use of paint or clay.
And this king, stepping down from his throne,
in the modern way of kings, tells the story of
his reign in the domain Of fashion. Or, is 1t
like a child that tells some fairy tale Of his
own making. In either case there is JOY in
the telling, gusto in the looking backward over
lovely women Of the stage and society made
more lovely by the art Of Poiret. Here are
fresh recollections OF this fete or that cere-
monial arranged and carried out in the unique
artistry of Poiret Travels here and there
to America, where he lectured In various cities
upon his own high theme. Finally, the king
becomes philosopher. That is, after ruin from
one cause and another overtakes him, Poiret.
In truly royal mood, takes on contentment and
happiness along with poverty IT live in q
pretty countryside, and If, sometimes there Is
gloom within my room, my window opens vast
iy upon a superb view" Again, ut has been
suggested to me that I return to business activi-
ties. That may well happen I feel I still
have many dresses within me" Open young
and novel, this story Of art and an artist is
a most engaging one, and a significant
besides
THE OPEN SECRET. BY Oliver Onions Bos-
ton: Houghton Mifdin Co.
THE fiction Of Oliver Onions is, invariably Of
the male persuasion. Muscular sinewy
stuff. Direct in approach, busineSslike in at
tack. Not given to philandering suffering the
love motive rather than running out to meet it,
The Open Secret" Is evidence Of this writer's
strength, both in the choice of theme and in his
way of sending 1t out along the story road. An
after-the-war romance with London and nearby
for its setting. The situation is drab with
hopes still hanging In mid-air, with promises
still not started toward fulfllment Upon this
gray groundwork the outstanding activity Is
that OF agitators Of plotters against the order
as 1t stands. Secret groups working by signs
and mysterious street contacts by dark con-
claves in dingy back rooms, are growing in size
and sinister intent
The sentimentalist, the cratic intellectual
and their kind are adding to the menace Of the
situation in its growing ardor against current
TACT and outlook. Carrying on, puzzled but de-
termined, through this maze of mystery of ac-
tivity from Strengthening outsiders and queer
minded insiders. are two Englishmen. One
business man of the higher order. The other
cockney lad devoting himself to the other
my guvn'r," in unsolicited, even in an I'M
known service. It Is upon these two that the
vigorous tone of the action depends. Many adj
ventures, rising out of the dark streets meet
these two. Sinister influences follow them Just
picture, the whole story of a period of this
period in London, in any great center the world
over. The author does suffer q romance, If it
can In sincerity be called that to make its way
along to an indeterminate conclusion But love-
making is not his field certainly not in this in
stance. So instead Of the love potions that sat
urate the huge bulk Of current novels there is
onereo to you here a man-size story of the
present restless and dangerous state of the pub
lie mind in its relations to government to bus
mess to the common unromantic job of being
alive at the moment
MONEY MAD. BY Rex Beach. New York:
Cosmopolitan Corporation.
THIS title indicates, broadly, the background
against which, in characteristic vigor, Rex
Beach projects a single concrete case of q
worlds money mania
Florida fifty, provides local ground-room for
the matter in hand. The boom is over. De-
Hated dreams Of money-making are manifest
In abandoned "city SITES" in closed banks and
stores, in the empty streets Of dead commu-
mites.
At bottom, this novel Is q sermon. But not
OF his own free win does any one sit down I'M
DER preachmentS. fact more patent prob