The Washington times., 1934-01-18

A"er' O0'"0" in Bath. I
discovered that I had not read
the "Pickwick Papers" in three
years; that my copy was miss
ing, and that I could not re-
member what took place on
that elegant occasion to which
Sam Weller was invited.
AL 1 recollect is that delicate
problems of etiquette were
troublesome in that day, too;
and that a gentleman's gentle
man was nightly superior to
. footman. 1t is my recollection
also that this chapter is one
Of the most Satirical pieces in
all of Dickens, and that there
Is another supremely fine hit
in the chapter called Podsnap-
perry (the Babbittry of a hun
dred years ago) in "Our Mu-
tual Frield." Podsnap, like
Babbitt, considered other
countries a mistake, and of
their manners and customs
would conclusively observe, Not
English!' when, presto! with a
flourish of the arm and a flush
OF the face, they were swept
away"
Where's Bunker BEAM"
Once I began looking about
for missing books I discovered
that it is five years since I
read Bunker Bean," by Harry
Leo WilSon-and that my copy
Of that immortal work is also
missing. It is pity that books
cannot be revived like plays.
a play may go into stock COM
panieS or road tours (if it is
very lucky) or into the movies,
and still in 10 years you can
have a revival. A book goes
into cheap reprints and never
comes out of them. Until an
author dies and gets a memo
Dial edition.
There are about % million
people in the United States be-
tween the ages of Is and "a.
Ten years ago, when Bunker
Bean was beginning to disap-
pear, these people were from S
TO IA years old, and were not
reading Bunker Bean" So that,
Jet us say, half of these % mil
Ion must be potential readers
Of q book which is magically
humorous and altogether unfor-
gettable. It could be offered to
them with the enthusiasm of
hundreds Of authorities; it
should be a best seller.
Not A "Classic"
Pickwick is safe; Pickwick
gets into collected editions and
IS Dickens" and is remarked on
IN the SchoolbookS. But Bunker
Bean" although its author has
written Merton of the Movies"
and other popular works, hasn't
the bearing of a classic. It is
too lightminded to be referred
70 in critical works on the rela-
ZION between American litera-
G1lre and the spread of Commun-
ism; it has nothing to do with
Freud or the Amerindians. It is
0nly a grand book of American
comedy.
Yet, If I am not mistaken,
sBunker Bean" was something
Of q forerunner in its time. It
brought forth the first flapper
and endowed her not only with
the charm, but with the hard
headedneSS which the actual
Napper, who came five or 10
years later, developed. The
daughter of the great financier
Who made up her mind to marry
the boy stenographer, and did
i, was a pioneer. And, even
more impressive, Bunker Bean"
was the first novel, at least in
the comic vein, which made hash
Of all the pretentions of busi-
ness.
Raspberry of 1918
I am not clear about the de-
tails. But I know that Bunker
Bean himself saw through the
elaborate pretences of the whole
business of being busy; he saw
through the cashier with his
mania for figures, so, when he
wanted to get an advance on his
pay, he asked for exactly $7.83
until four and a half minutes
after IL on Saturday" He went
into directors meetings and gave
the more pompous of the as
Sembled titans of finance the
raSpberry-only he must have
had another name for it. And
he knew perfectly we'll when he
got rich that it was all luck
and a little fraud.
other people, since, have
written serious novels about all