Evening star., 1933-03-19
CARPETS AND PRETENDERS: History Of
Bohemianisrn in America. BY Albert Parry.
New York: Covici-Friede

Murger with his Scenes de la Vie de Boheme"
and Francois Villon with his poems Of the road,
the attic, the tavern, the prison and the gal
lows. But public opinion is often limited by
ignorance, not to mention prejudice, and most
readers will be surprised to see how much Bo-
hemianism Mr.. Parry has found in our own
country. It may be well to say at the start that
this is a most entertaining book on a subject
not at all shop-worn. We hear the word "Bo-
hemianism" and think, 'Oh, yes-Greenwich
Village-Walt Whitman and probably
vague recollections stop there. But Mr.. Parry
takes us On flight into our past which in
cludes New Yorks queen of Bohemia of the SOS,
PfafS beer cellar, the trilby mania, the Bo-
hemia Of San Francisco. Chicago, Philadelphia,
Boston Eyes. even Philadelphia and Boston
have had Bohemians, in spite of the traditions
Of William Penn and the Puritans) and New
Orleans, and our expatriates in Paris.
American Bohemanism, SO gay and mellow
and, In its later stages, respectable began with
tragedy. It began with Edgar Allan Poe. In
his own time Poe was seldom, If ever, referred
to as Bohemian. The sentimental term ap-
piled to q man Of art and of unconventional or
wandering disposition was brought to America
from France at the time Poe was drinking
himself to death" Poe then, became the ia
ther OF Bohemianism after his death, and
never had the satisfaction he would indubitably
have savored in the movement. The first con-
scious American Bohemianism was in New
reigned over a group which congregated in
Pfaff's beer cellar with Walt Whitman as the
literary Buddha. LAS organized group Bo-
hemias go, the pioneer Bohemian Of New York
had record in the best OF traditions. 80 It
saw eight spectacular deaths-namely, two sui
cides one death by pneumonia in q leaky
garrett one of lockjaw as a result of battle
wound, one of paralysis ascribed to dissipation
one OF lungs and nerves shattered by hasheesh
and opium, one of rabies caused by a perform
ing dogs bite and one by alcoholism
Mr.. Parry has been adept in the invention
of his chapter titles They cannot fail to
arouse interest, which he amply satisfies Here
are few: Confused Souls in Boston," "Attics
Come Midwest" The Dill Pickle and the End
OF Chicago" Stables Into Studios: Green
wich Village" and You Can Be Crazy" The
book closes with Greenwich Village, whose re
Igiop -" never takes in all Of its young and
"''never makes its inhabitants so happy that
they dispense with the custom of suicide"
Adding greatly to enjoyment in the book and
to its value, are the numerous illustrations,
from contemporary engravings, drawings photo
graphs and caricatures, and the good bibliog-
raphy and index
THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE. By Sir Arthur
Eddington. New York: The Macmillan Co.
CDDNGToN and Jeans and Milhkan have,
l. IN addition to their major achievements in
physics, recognized and honored by individual
scientists and scientific <sQcieties all over the
world, performed the minor service of making
certain portions of their theories and discov-
cries ineligible to ordinary, non-mathemati-
cally-minded human beings. Physics and even
more astronomy has its poetic, its artistic side.
Though this book is popular, from the scien-
fists point Of view, it would be misleading to
say that 1t is light or easy reading It IS,
however, quite worth the concentration which
will enable the interested reader to follow what
Sir Arthur Eddington calls a mystery story Of
science. He explains the theory, tentatively
held, that "the whole material universe of
stars and galaxies of stars Is dispensing, the
galaxies scattering apart so as to occupy an
eyer-increasing volume" This is why the uni
verse is expanding. Because knowledge of this
process IS still so incomplete and scientific views
may be frequently modified, Eddington says
that lit might be argued that at this stage a
book is prem .ature but have ventaEed to as
sumo that in the mystery stories of science the
reader may be as much interested in the find
ing and weaving together of clues for the de-
lection Of the criminal as in his final capture
and execution" For the past 20 years Sir
Arthur Eddington has been plurnian professor
Of astronomy at Cambridge University, England,
and is also director of the Cambridge Observa-
tory. He is the author of 1.-The Nature of the
Physical World and Science and the Unseen
World" The material of THE Expanding Uni
verse" was first used in a lecture delivered before
the International Astronomical Union at Cam
bridge, Mass, and also furnished the subject
matter for three broadcasts in this country
later.
MARK TWAIN. By Stephen Leacock New
York: D. Appleton & Co.
4 AARK TWAIN was in q certain sense the
wi victim of his own humor. He early estab-
lished a reputation as a humorist and could
never get away from it, even when he had q
serious message and longed to convey it. He
fiercely hated oppression of any sort, humbug-
gerry, and superstition, yet when he attempted
to attack them, people were likely to laugh
and think he was joking In this brief biog-