Evening star., 1935-12-29
PRESIDENTS MYSTERY STORY LEADS WEEKS BOOK LIST
LIST HEAVY, BOOKS LIGHT IN 1895
Many Volumes But Little Literature Produced Authors
Turn Topical and Opportunist-Books of Travel
Outstanding in Merit Among Years Output. a

commonsense make It eminentiy in.
teresting.
ON THE field Of biography one can
~ commend 1.-THE Life and Times
Of Catherine de Medici," by Francis
Watson, published by D. Appleton
Century Co.; THE Street I Know"
by Harold Stearns, published by Lee
Furman; George the Fourth" by
Roger Fulford, published by G. p. Put
MANS Sons, and The Fabulous VIII
son Miner" by william Dean Sullis
van, published by the HeTkle Co.
These books are selected not by con-
sideration of their subjects, but BY
their intrinsic value as pieces OF writ.
ing. Somewhat along the line Of bi"
ography too is Clarence Days Life
With Father" published by Alfred A.
Knopf. This collection of reminiscent
sketches has known great popularity.
In poetry, two veterans have re-
turned to the field with creditable
volumes. These are Dresser, with
his Moods" and Edgar Lee Masters
with his Invisible Landscapes" The
selected poems of A. E-those which
he chose himself out of his life's work
have appeared in volume form, maxi
ing perhaps the most nearly perfect
volume of the year. Robert Nathan's
Selected Poems is another collec-
ton that is desirable. Lighter verse
of excellent quality is to be found in
Wittner Bynner's Guest Book" and
Peggy Bacon's "Cat Calls" On the
showing which the publishers have
made in this ofice, it would seem to
have been an of year on verse gen.
orally.
This brings one down to the awful
group referred to in the first para.
graphs-those works which have de.
voted themselves to a serious earnest
examination of the startled and un-
happy condition of the nation. If you
like your statistics served in Spartan
rigor, one cannot do better than COM
mend to you the Brookings Institutions
series of books on the National Re.
covery Administration" and the "Agri.
cultural Adjustment Administration"
and also the volume put out by that
body on Income and Economic Prog
ress." Here, my friends, are facts.
Here, without the frivolity Of literary
pretense Of any kind, are the known
figures on the state Of the Nation.
the New Deal, the Roosevelt policies,
and whittier away. All you have to
do Is read these highly Informative
books to know what is going on. But,
of course, you will be looking up the
hockey scores instead. AS we have
said, these books demonstrate perfect
ly the state of the American Nation.
After these there is great welter,
but curious quality Of impermanencs
attaching to most of them makes one
hesitate. One feels a certain oppor-
tunism on the part of our authors,
who seem to have gone in such
numbers nostrum minded. After all,
such works are books only by the ac-
cident of form. They have nothing
to do with literature and in spite Of
the fact that they treat of our present
times, they have very little actually
to do with life.
THE Politician" published by Stokes
and written by Wallis, is one Of thea
funniest books out in long time, and
the best detective volume of the year
was by far Ellis Parker's volume of tEUS
tales called the Cunning Mulatto."
And, Of course, there was viii Du-
rant There will be another one, he
says in five more years -. That will
be ... 1910 -.