The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-02-21
Reviewed by
PHILIP RAHV

] h(FACHSA ny
PHILIP RAHV
THE ANVIL, a magazine special
izing in proletarian fiction, has
now published its tenth number.
This is an event in the life of our
young literature, and is the occa-
sion for congratulating its energetic
editors as well as the group Of young
writer's who have not only written
for it, but also sold it copy by copy
wherever they happened to be work.
ing or cumming at the moment. 1t
is in such homespun journals, got
ten out with great labor and with
almost no finances, that the young
revolutionary writers are given their
first chance to try their wings.
While the fiction in The Anvil has
not always reached the highest level
possible, most of it succeeded in
catching the feel of workaday
America and in imparting a sense
of the rebel moods stirring the
minds and hearts of simple, mar
ticulate people.
The current issue contains eight
stories and sketches, and three
poems, quite fare for little mag
azine." The themes of the stories
cover a wide range and are extreme
ly realistic both in temper and de-
velopment. Particularly interesting
and exciting are the stories by Saul
Levitt, Jack conroy, Erskine Cald-
we'll, H. H. Lewis and Lewis cara.
Conroy's Down in Happy Hol-
low" part of his new novel, sug-
gests that this working class writer
is digging deep into his experience
to create the imagery and render
clear the sources of his invaluable
material
Saul Levitt has written little as
yet, but those who follow the work
of young writers closely have al
ready sensed in him an emerging
talent of a high order. To my mind,
his story MY Kid Brother" pub
lished some time ago in another
magazine was one of the clearest
signs of our literature's coming of
age.
H. H Lewis is another writer
whose prose has not been suffi-
GENTLY noticed by our criticism. His
Free for Fresno In this issue is
slight but characteristic of his style,
which is the best possible vehicle
for sharp, almost ferocious, satire.
His idiom combines the ribald slang
of the brazen underdog with high
ly imaginative lyricism Of phrase
and feeling; it's charged with hatred
of the genteel, the pompous, the un-
real Unfortunately, in his poetry,
Lewis misuses somewhat this indi-
vidual idiom, for in most of his
poems he turns it into a substitute
for design and discipline.
"UE WALKS ALONE" by Jo-
III Sephine w. Johnson, author of
the well-known novel Now in No.
vember," marks her first appearance
in proletarian magazine. 1t shows
we'll enough where her sympathieS
lie, but as yet she fumbles with her
theme, not quickening to It's social
elements but rather to its subjective,
conventional side.
The most explicitly political story
in the issue-dealing with Party life
lis written by Joseph D. Mari, n
newcomer to literature. Few of our
writer's have ever attempted to use
this rich subject matter, either be-
cause of unfamiliarity with this life
or q certain self Inconsistencies. Mari
describes a militant Italian comrade
who is severely beaten up by the
police and then loses his nerve.
While this happens at times, 1t is
neither typical of Communists nor
is it inherent in this particular
case as presented by the author.
But the story is important for it's
incidental descriptions and because
it is a pioneer effort.
Proletarian magazines :, in this
country have gradually increased to
the extent where each one is find
ing its own special field. The spe-
cific point of view that The Anvil
is expressing in our literature has
already produced some very fine
fiction and deserves the attention
of every radical reader.