Evening star., 1937-05-29


1prote "For Readers Only"
(E. P. Dutton.)
money. But one doubts very much
If there has ever been as much fun
But then, no one has his twenties
twice-no one-nothing, not even 9
century. Burton Rascoe, II he was
predestined to be critic, can at least
thank his parents. He was born ii
the proper time.
THE BEST SHORT STORIES 1887
AND THE YEARBOOK OF THE
AMERICAN SHORT STORY
Edited by Edward ]. OBrien. Bos-
ton: Houghton Miff1in Co.
THIS edition Of Mr.. OBrien's labol
of love seems to the reviewer tt
strike a higher level than has beer
its achievement in some years. AS 6
general thing, the volume is pretty
funny. 1t is funny in its selections
and it is even funnier in the criticism!
which Mr.. O'Brien offers of each O.
his selections-solemn little para.
graphs which read like the. markine
Of high school themes, comments or
plot treatment" psychological in.
sight" and all the rest OF it. Bu
this year, while the paragraphs re.
main much the same, the actual stories
are pretty good, taken all in ALL
The authors represented are Rober1
Buchner, Roger Burlingame, Morley
Callaghan, Charles Cooke, William
Faulkner, S. S. Field, Martha Foley
Elna Godchaux, Albert Halper, Ernes
Hemingway, Edward Harris Heth, Pau
Horgan, Manuel Komrof1, David E
Krantz, Harry Harrison Kroll, R. H
Linn, Ursula MacDougal, Allen Nc.
Ginnis, William March, Edita Morris
I. " Morris, Katherine Anne Porter
Ellis st. Joseph, William Saroyan
Jesse Stuart, Benedict Thielen, Lovel
Thompson, Wilson Wright and Leane
zugsmith.
The magazines from which storie:
have been selected are Atlantic
Monthly, Story, New Yorker, Serb.
ner's, Southern Review, Virginia Quar-.
terly Review, Esquire. American Mer.
curry, Harper's Bazaar, American
Prefaces, New Stories and Harper!
Magazine.
Eight Of the selections are from
Story four from the Southern Review
three each from Scribner's and At.
lantic Monthly and two each from
Esquire, American Mercury and New
Stories. The rest of the periodicals
represented have one each.
AS a good story is an individual
thing, it is impossible to criticize 8
volume, unless one has the threac
OF common authorship or subject mat.
ter to hold to. The nearest the re.
viewer can come to particularizine
her approval of this collection is to
say that there is a solidity in most OF
the pieces in it. This solidity, to be
sure, rests chiefly on accomplished
craftsmanship; the thinking behind
most of the stories remains perfectly
conventional. But there is refresh.
ing absence OF those fragmentary bits
which, for some years past, under the
mantle of tmpressionism, have gotter
themselves accepted as mysteriously
significant through very incoherence
The stories in the present volume
at least begin somewhere and enc
somewhere, and that is a concession
to the normal readers expectations
which ought to be gratefully received
The Odyssey has a beginning anc
ending, it may be mentioned. So does
THE Jumping Frog"
Out of the 20 selections the re-
viewed would rate 9 as very good
THE Voyage OUT by Morley Cal
laghan; Enter Daisy; To Her, Alex
andra," by Charles Cooke; "Good-bye
to Cap'm john" by S. S. Field; The
Surgeon and the Num-" by Paul Hor-
gan; "The Intrigue OF Mr.. S. Yama-
moto," by R. H. Linn; The Old Order
by Katherine Anne Porter; "A Passen-
ger to Bali" by Ellis st. Joseph; 1.-The
Crusader" by William Saroyan," and
Arrival on Holiday" by Wilson
Wright. The last would perhaps be
her choice, though it is hard to find
any basis for preference except pure
personal entertainment in a group sc
variously assorted.
CAPT. KIDD AND HIS SKELETON
ISLAND. BY Harold T. wilkins
New York: Liveright Publishing
Corp.
THIS is a work of much research
devoted to the proposition that
Capt. Kidd, the pirate, was not the
guilty monster which popular legend
has made him. The idea is not q new
one, OF course; the suspicion that Kidd
was In the employment of substantial
gentlemen on both sides Of the Allan
tic and that he did no more than
carry out their orders, has been put
forward before this, with enough evi-
dence addvced to raise q doubt at least
OF his unique culpability. However, In
the present work, between the covers
OF a single volume, there is to be
found great body of documents, some
OF which are printed for the first time
which not only amplifies this ugly
old suspicion, but strengthens it.
According to the authors researches,
Capt. Kidd was railroaded to the gib-
',et because the Great Mogul of India
had threatened to drive the British
East India Co. out of his realm unless
England put stop to the piracy which
was seriously interfering with his own
trade. Capt. Kidd was seized upon
for a scapegoat, says Mr.. Wilkins
partly because he was convenient and
partly because it was feared that he
would reveal the fact that his voyage
was backed by gentlemen whose name.
could not well be associated with rob
berry on the high seas.
While this is an interesting notion
the average reader will, however, IND
1t pale beside the announcement which
the author makes Of his own discovery
in the course Of his researches, oi
Kidd's private chart to the famous
Skeleton Island" where he Is sup.
posed to have hidden his loot. 1hil
y