Evening star., 1932-03-27
% IDA GILBERI MYERT
A,1hm Train Touches Timely and Important
Subject in ''WhatWeDotoO Our Presidents "
No0eh by John Dos Passes and Others.

1919. BY John Dos Passos. author of THE
END Parallel" etc. New York: Harcourt
Brace & Co.
A REALIST like the bulk of modern novel;
lists. With them, he is busy re-creatng
the day and the hour, each in it's own like
Unlike them, he sceords himself a new
heaven, whereas the others strive, more less
Intellectually. to give valid currency to modern
existence from the high and remote canopy
of old faiths and creeds, from the older out
look and earlier sources of inspiration. Dos
Passos, contrariwise, thriftily drops his mott
vating heaven to the level OF the press where
it belongs, since it is the current news that
from one angle or another drives and directs
both collective and individual action. As an
other BIZ of mechanics the author makes use
of the camera eye" Of himself, In fact, for
personal Unlocking and comment. Between
"newsFeeP' and camera" the novel locks like
an eccentric of its class but the oddity wears
away, leaving distinct advantage Of immedi-
ate actually Of effect in the action itself.
Within this framework the story moves, con-
tinuing with some characters brought over
from The 42nd Parallel" and with some new
ones of sufficient momentum to suggest a deS-
tination beyond the limits Of 1913"
Here are stories of and another, of Joe
Williams, the sailor; of Dick Savage, the
Harvard scholar; of the girl from Texas, of
Eveline Hutchins a minister's daughter. Diff
ferent stories, naturally but with this in COM
mon-that they all advance through motives
snatched from passing occasion or immediate
circumstance. There is here no rootsge of
settled purpose, Of standards accepted and OBJ
served. And from his own camera closeup the
author himself, makes sweeping summaries OF
the opportunism that is in control, not only
of this handful of characters, but of all the
great concerns of the country as WELL OF the
world, too
An American satire dated by it's title, but
movable withal toward future resurveys OF the
American scene. Coarse and fine rough and
smooth soft and hard, the work pays no no.
ticeable attention to the forms and ceremonies
of writing. Looking around and taking notes
is of more concern to Dos Passos than dolling
up his words and phrases is ever likely to be.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ADVENTURE
ER. By ]. L. Trebitsch- Lincoln. New York:
Henry A. Holt d Co.
THIS author, with all the material of his adj
ventroas life at hand, probably is able
to write q volume which would live up to the
jacket-cover Of a modern thriller. His World
War experience alone would hold the hardened
reader of fiction; his adventures in various
countries, with all sorts of people, would be
stranger than make-believe But IN this par
ticular beck which is described by the pub
fishers as vivid amazing, staggering, sensa-
tional, startling and fascinating" the writer
has failed in his effort He tells very little,
and this little cannot possibly come under the
heading Of the publishers adjectives. Treb-
itsch- Lincoln describes himself Jew from
nowhere, who became an Episcopal missionary,
a member of Parliament, the inmate OF q
Brooklyn jail, an escaped English convict,
Rumanian oil king. a plotter Of revolutions IN
Germany, Austria and Hungary; spy for the
French, Czechs and Russians; adviser 10 Chi
nese war lords and finally Buddhist monk.
However, he neglects to put the essential hu-
man element In the story of his life, and 1t
becomes q very dry tale. He would have done
well if he had collaborated with a writer Of
f1ction-not to put fiction in his story, but
to inject a living. breathing personality. He
has a story to tell but he has failed in the
telling. His exploits might easily become those
of the greatest adventurer of the twentieth
century," as his publisher titles him. GEN.
THE TRAGEDY OF HENRY FORD. By JON
athan Norton Leonard. New York: G. p.
Putnams Sons.
A PLEASING writer, Mr.. Leonard Robust,
picturesque, witty, a knack with words
and turns Of phrase; a fine stock OF illusions