Evening star., 1932-08-23
NEW. BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. C.. M.
I LIKE THE DEPRESSION. Henry
Ansley. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-

| Merrul 20.
Books are shy creatures. Oh. but
they really arel The book parade OF
shops all up and down the streets
shops for meat and sodas and perma-
nent waves and every other sort Of
| ware-that has not thing to do with
books in their own persons. Those
bright window shows of promise. gay
colors and shrill titles, eager leaning,
as If about to rush out to happy fellow
ship with the paSserby-an this has
nothing to do with books. Rather does
it belong to the great modern science
of salesmanship, whose A, and Q,
whose x, Y and z are ingenious meth
ods Of publicity.
To be sure. books are shy and very
patient withal. Like well-mannered
children of an earlier-and stupider-
day, they speak only when they are
spoken to, and even then they are
swift to turn away into their native
solitude when that which they have to
offer meets neither the need nor the
mood of the reader.
| X 4
"I like the depression" A throaty
voice. hearty. with a tag of laughter
on the like" Oh, Lord! That deadly
fellow, the professional optimist, has
slipped into the back room. Or. worse
one, Pollyanna of the male persuasion.
Maybe, however, it is only the harm
less wisecrack doing his stuff. But,
there is nobody here. nobody but me
and the books! And they stand
ranked and silent around the room, as
usual. And surely I have not, not yet,
fallen into the way Of talking aloud to
myself Besides, 1 have no sentiment
like the one just offered:
;o,, Typsf n
do you! You're the only one. Suppose
you tell us how you got that way" An
open book on the table before me
twitched leaf corner. "All right" it
said, here we go!" And SO the story
began. Surprising how talkative book
becomes with no more than half a
chance.
And the man Of the book went on
to say that he had been pretty smart
for a country lad from Texas, with no
extra push behind him in the way
of family or business connections or
other such first aids to prosperity.
He'd done we'll. had come close to some
of the really big fellows. Then the de-
preston struck. Knocked him all Of q
heap. But he appears to have been
the one in million who had spring
enough to rebound right side up. So,
on his feet, he began to brush himself
off. to get rid of an amazing load OF
litter, sheer litter that prosperity and
soft living had collected about him
and upon him.
Before prosperity came Henry was
just one of the folks Of the small
town, getting together with them in
all sorts of projects, work and play
and talk that settled every difficulty
) in the world. You remember how
neighbors did before the breed died
out. Henry struck oil. So did a few
of the others New people moved into
the town. Residences took the place
of homes, late hours crowded bedtime
well toward the morning, strange
foods supplanted corned beef and cab
bage with sneaking liquids sent sur
reptitiously into ~ insides Of Henry
and the others.
And the wisdom Of Henry waxed
with his wealth. Not a question OF
finance or politics or economics. not
social nor a sporting question that he
and his clique did not know all about
The farmers! How dumb the fool
. farmers are and what I, Henry, would
do to help them if I were only In
, Congress" But the farmers. he found
later, we're not so dumb. Lots dumbeI
! folks are giving them advice"
During the era Of prosperity the
first twinge of uneasineSs that came
: to Henry was from his dog. Sapr
was the first to see that a perfectly
good man was being made over into
something not quite so good. "Sapp-
that's our old dog-was the first tc
. see the change in me. He's just dog
reckon blood-kin to half the dogs In
town. Now, when I got the big eye
) and the bigger head Sapp cut from
me. Before, he used to wait for me
at the corner and would jump into the
car without even touching the window
But he quit that. When I came home
he tailed it for the back yard and
never showed up till left"
"Sapp and I like the depression
We're back on our old-time basis
again. He meets me now at the Sec
ond corner and walks almost halfway
to town with me in the morning. a
time or two when I was big shot
tried to teach Sapp some tricks, but
never had much luck. But now he
understands every word say and he
,, does anything tell him to do.
Say, it's a great thing to go home
and he met by real dog and to know
that you stand ace-high with him.
! When he's sort of Indifferent, not over
enthusiastic, I know I've been doing
something I shouldn't, and when
check up I find that he's always right.
: Rather a mistake, maybe, to listen SO
long to the story Of Sapp during the rise
and fall of fortune in the affairs OF
this man. There his wife to be ac-
counted for, his business friends. too
but dog is very interesting. So we've
loitered at one Of the rich points In
Henry's return by way Of the depression
to a robust grip on the realities around
: him. Yes, he tells about the wife and
| 81 :; 4 - 1,a kI,A or,
around him, all in the same fix. He
tells of a return to substantial social
7 matters around, the church and clubs
: and other get-together inventions fol
, the sake Of just helping along wherever
it Is most needed. The women will be
interested to see how the wife behaved
: under the eclipse Of fortune. 1t Is in
| teresting. A general house and oft1ce
: cleaning. New economies set up, sim
t plified notions of rest and recreation
with fresh Joy in their pursuit. The
, whole is simply chronicle Of some OF
the benefits of hard times as these
struck the prosperous Henry, his busi-
/ ness and his household. In substance
, this is the triumph of mind and body
? at the hard job well met, well turned.
| Henry's story is homely In dress. This
: to get away from the technical and alb
, struse 1.-THE Depression: Its Causes and
: Its Cure" with which weary and be-
( wildered public Is urged at every turn to
! take cognizance 1t Is robust with cour-
: age. too. Tonic against the dropping
) public mind and the querulous personal
complainings. Genuine laughter here
and there, friendly ridicule along the
way bent upon the absurd opinions OF
the sources of the disaster and the
r vapid advice for recovery. The tone OF
. the book is its point. Courage, good
r sense, plain speaking, numor. These
with an informed outlook upon the ac-
Qualities of the situation, give impor-
tance to this philosopher in overalls.
But, best of all, it IS the story of per-
sonal discovery of self And no other
story begins to weigh with that of the
I man, the woman, who in new OF
[ | chanuad Snt of circumstances finds g