Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-08-29
YORK STATES VIVID HISTORY PAINTED BY GARNER
STYLE LIKE THAT OF IRVING
Ien Lonesome Drum Recounts Some Astonishing Tales
of Empire States People-Pnestley Novel Follows His
Usual Formua-Other Books Reviewed.

present work says that his followers
are numbered In millions" However
that may be. there Is no doubt that he
holds m authority over Harlem which
many white politicians could envy.
His influence Is said to be moral and
on the side Of reform.
The details of his movement are
too fantastic to be believed, unless one
can cover them with the blanket label,
Religious hysteria." and let it 60 at
that. But 1t should not be forgotten
that religious hysteria on 30 large a
scale predicates, pretty certainly.
capable leader. God In q Rolls
Royce" really deserves to be read. It
Is the story Of bit Of Americana too
picturesque to be ignored.
SING, SISTER. SING. BY vicki
Baum. New York: Doubleday
Doran.
IN SING. SISTER. SING" Vicki
Baum again demonstrates her IA
miliarity with widely diversified types
VI IluLlAllc, OuGS aIlu SIlQS Oh BOTI
that inhabited her famous stunt-story,
Grand Hotel" This time Miss Baum
chooses to concern herself with
menagerie consisting principally of
charlatans and idiots. . circus of liv-
ing clap-trap, in which none Of the
performers 10 quite strange enough to
be interesting as an oddly nor suf-
ficiently vicious to qualify Is . study
in depravity.
The field Of their activity Is what's
vaguely known as artistic. Doris Hart
is German emigrant girl who wishes
to become an opera singer. She poses
for second-rate sculptor named Basil
Nemirof. falls in love with him. gets
shot by him when he discovers her on
q drunken party with o vapid, rich
son Of New York banker. She re-
covers. Basil goes to prison for at
tempted murder.
Determined to become famous now
In order to make money and free her
lover, she begins her operate study
under a mountainous ex-prima donna
named SALVATORE, eventually manages
to get the great Delmonte to accept
her as a pupil by the simple expedi-
ent of succumbing to his manager
Thenceforward she dispenses herself
to various persons all over Europe in
payment for guidance in the technique
Of opera stagecraft, roles in operetta
for experience, financial backing for
productions which will further her ca
reer. Her stable of inamoratas en-.
compasses collection Of bores. q few
OF whom are at least polite or friendly.
Eventually she arrives In triumph
at the Metropolitan, outSings her own
teacher, gets Balls released on brief,
illegal paroles for reunions with her
At last convinced that she will not be
able to gain a full pardon for him be-
fore his term Is out, she consents to
marry q rather charming old chap,
father of the playboy who was her
companion the night she was shot.
The understanding is that the mar
riage is Cancelled when and if Basil
comes out of prison. He does. Doris
and Basil 60 away to some misty dream
island. They are happy. She dies of
heart condition induced by the bull
Let Basil plantsi In her lung years
before. q. e. D., I suppose.-R. B.
p, ir.
MIR. AND MRS. NORTH. BY Richard
Lockridge. New York. Frederick A.
Stokes.
THE Norths are old friends OF
that group of, should one say
sophisticated Americans who read
the New Yorker. For many
year their interesting lives
have been recorded in the urbane
weekly. Sometimes they have been
pretty close to the front of the book
but usually only on such occasions
as Thurber. Frank Sullivan, Morley
Callaghan and Sally Benson were out
of town or not in the mood to do their
best work.
Now the Norths and their doings
are in a book all by themselves where
they do not have to compete with
Thurber's animal drawings. Sullivans
SA1SAAC SNRCAV oSo eiiC 2Edhou W SaA-
laghan, Miss Benson and chow could
one forgetO John O'Hara.
That, Of course. is what happens
to most things which appear in the
New Yorker: they always reappear
later as books. It is quite entirely
proper that they should and that
estimate applies particularly to the
Norths.
These characters which have been
feeding Mr.. Lockridge these many
years are sinsulariy interesting not
only in their relations with each other
but In their individual encounters
with what is called life. Il
When Mr.. North. for instance, takes
his first ride in q taxicab driven by
. pretty woman, Mr.. Lockridge makes
him see significances in the experience
that make considerably better-than-
average reading. The trivial effer-
vesces brightly. So 1t is with oil Of
the stun out Of which the Norths'
lives are made.
One could do Q lot worse than have
the Norths around for late summer
reading visit. -. J. G.
EARLY AMERICAN AND OTHER
STORIES. BY Conrad Richter.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
THIS Is . group Of stories of wholly
conventional plots laid In the
scenes Of what % known now Is the
"old West" They deserve comn1enda-
ton for liyelinesS and picturesque
ness Of language. Otherwiss they are
polite nothings.