Evening star., 1936-03-14

and then she will find that
it was all q dream: There cannot be
so many. 1t is impossible.
But, in this moment of Sleep writing,
she advises you to buy r. P. Harriss'
THE Foxes" 1t Is a small book, we'll
nigh perfect.
To be sure, its characters are not
just human beings, nor is its plot any
part of the scheme of human life. Its
plot Is the life Of a countryside, rather,
and that to be interpreted most lit
orally. 1t is the life that hides under
hedgerows and creeps under meadow
grass, and swims in still ponds and
nests in hollow trees. 1t is the life
that sleeps by day and fares forth by
night, that is wary and self-sufhciert
and that includes, in awful objectivity,
a knowledge of part of the habits of
the great creature whom 1t sees only
as a destroyer-man. 1t is the story
of a family of gray foxes and their
associates. from the frogs in the pool
where they fish up to the Captain who
owns the neighboring pack.
OF all special kinds of writing, the
animal tale, it would seem, requires
the greatest sense Of propriety. One
hairs breadth Of deviation from right
ness and 1t becomes maudiin or ridic.
ulous. 1t can only be written, appar-
emily, out of sound, deep knowledge
of animal life and capacity for con-
slant literary restraint. The author
Of THE Foxes" possesses both require
mentS, and a fine style as well.
He knows his foxes. He also knows
his rabbits, possums. bass, bats, par
fridge and coon. He has written no
"fox- hunting novel," wherein gallant
lady rides hard and saves somebody or
something from somebody or some
thing else. There is no lady in his
book at all. He has told the story OF
the fox family, from the conception OF
the young up to the time when only
one member remains alive. And he
has made of it well-night q master
piece.
NO VILLAIN NEED BE. BY vardis
Fisher. Garden City: Doubleday,
Doran & Co.
THIS book is the fourth and last
l. volume of Yards Fishers tetral-
ogy on the search of man for his
soul.
Well but to get to tit really is no
worse than trite. But it is that; it Is
that from beginning to end. It is alb
solutely amazing that so much trite-
ness, so many stock observations on
social questions, so many stock opin-
ions on art, could be solemnly gotten
between the covers Of q single book.
But, to all seeming, that is the sole
purpose Of the author. He has been
concerned little with any aspects Of
his hero except those which could
come out In conversation. And into
the mouths of the conversing char
acters he has put all the truisns of
his generation, opinion which, IS
years ago, were stimulating. but which
today have passed into general knowl-
edge and there are waiting assimila-
ton or forgetfulnesS, as their merits
shall decree.
One can only say that four volumes
about search for a soul Is too much.
Few souls are so interesting. One such
book, as a tour de force, can be con-
ceded to every average young man who
wants to write. Even then it is apt to
be work which he will regret later.
But the author who persists to the
length Of four volumes must either be
a very great genius indeed, or else a
perpetual adolescent, compelled, by
ambitions beyond his talents, to at
tempt to justify his adolescent wounds
by forever explaining them. In the
present case, since the tetralogy is
conceded to be photographed, one
can only say that Mr.. Fisher is more
to himself than he can pos
sibly be to his readers. Nor can one,
so late, expect much better of him in
the future. II he possessed q capacity
for irony, humor, or even simple story
telling. he would surely have demon
strated it before now. But he stands
"a deadly, amatuerish
writer. The best one can do for him
is to admit that, unquestionably, he
is sincere. And to hope that his next
book Is shorter. And printed in some
what larger type.
THE YANKEE BoDLEYS. BY
Naomi Lane Babson. New York:
Reynal and Hitchcock.
THIS is a novel of family, and, If
you like novels Of families, it Is
a pretty good one. To this reviewer
such works seem very much alike, or,
at most, clasSifiable into two groups
the kind where everything goes
mouldering down into despair with,
perhaps, a disenchanted old man or
woman left looking fatefully into the
FIRE, or the kind where, after tribu-
lations, the family gets its grip again
and some one emerges to meet the
Of the old man or woman
and carry the banner forward.
The present book is q variation of
the more cheerful kind. It has its old
lady. but she does not moulder. She
is formidable sort and does re-
spectacle amount Of living IN her time.
The book centers about her. although
it covers the family history from the
SOS until today. For the rest, it gets
its individuality from the fact that
its people are Yankees, with Yankee
talk and Yankee ways. It is lively
and plausible. You could do worse
than read 1t.
S2,5e0 . YEAR. BY Mordecai Eze-
kiel New York: Harcourt Brace d.
Co.
WE HAVE here another recipe for
ending all of our troubles and
everybody happy and pros
porous. The author, in this case. Is
economic adviser to the Secretary Of
Agriculture.
His thesis is, in brief. that there is
need Of q minimum income Of $2,50o
a year In order to bring about better
individual standards Of living and
further national prosperity. He pro-
poses q plan by which the condition
fe kA kn ,.noIfunA k.~&~