The Washington times., 1935-02-04
SHEEAN'S BOOK
PERSUASIVE
VOLUME

~OAbO4SOo JON
thought of Vincent Sheean as an
insurgent adrift in foreign parts.
1t may surprise you, therefore. to
discover that he also Is a much
misunderstood young man.
It all began when natural GU
riosity and willingness to learn
led him into two expeditions into
? the Riff, and editors just got the
idea that he liked nothing better
asthan an excursion through a
barbed-wire ENHANCEMENT. Un-
less. of course. it was sleeping in
flea.infested hotel, or cantering
across the desert in Arab dis
guise.
It got worse when he went to
China and was peremptorily com.
manded to stop writing politics
and start having personal adven-
lures. 1t also got under Mr..
Sheean's skin. And so he has
written Personal History" in re.
taliation.
OF Many Moods
You must not think. however.
that Mr.. Sheean is angry with
anybody. AS a matter OF fact.
he is one Of the most fair-minded
men Of his day. He simply has to
learn things for himself and once
he has made up his mind, no
power on earth will bulge him.
For that reason, Personal His
tory" is a most persuasive book.
A book of many moods, to be
sure, but all so intensely human
that the spell continues to hold
{ through 398 pages of narrative.
What Mr.. Sheean wants most
IN life is what he calls "the long
view," but his ears are too sen.
sitively attuned to distress. He
is always getting wrought up over
any injustice, and, if that means
taking an opposite view to the
one held by the publishers who
pay him to write pieces, then
he will take it. He will even quit
his job.
personal History" the career
OF a tramp Journalist from Chi
cGgo to Palestine, By Vincent
SheeGn. Doubleday and DorGn.
50.
Death For Three
An acute sense for character
analysis will be the greatest aid
for readers who attempt to solve
the mysteries that are cagily en-
closed in Crime at Christmas"
An overflowing house party is
presented in the throes of prepar-
ing for the holiday festivities.
Considering the talkative and dis
agreeable TRAITS of most of the
guests it would be too much to
expect that it would have been
much of a party even if three
persons hadn't come to sudden
and violent deaths. And so, scat
tered through this short journal
of the thoughts and hates of too
many half relations, the author
unobtrusively contriVes to lay be-
fore you the web of his circum-
stantial evidence that finally en-
meShed the entire household. 1t
is only by the closest attention to
every point in his narrative that
you will be able to find the an
swers to any of the perplexing
questions that will bother you
from the first chapter on.
"Crin1e at Christmas" a
mystery of three deaths By C.
II. B. Kitchin. Harcourt, Brace
q Co.. 81.
The Spit-CurI Era
# you like the simple things
Of life, you'll like Long Fur
rows a new story from the
corn belt. This is a continual
ton of Dora Aydelotte's child.
hood recollections first published
in the fiction magazines. In
short. she begins right where
4 "Anne of Green Gables" left off.
BY that we mean that "Barb'ry
Miller" is typical country
girl, replete with freckles and
pig-tails, who eventually grows
up to be a belle in her own
right.
Miss Aydelotte goes back to the
days of SunbonnetS and spit-curls
for her setting, and in recording
the irrepreSsible heroine's reac-
tionS to bitter winters and burn.
ing summers. paints a wholesome
study of the American scene.
Long FurrOwS," a story Of
farm life, by Dora AydelOtte.-
Appleton Century, 81.