Evening star., 1938-05-15

o0V"eS AAnc UCcu tldnmuteQ mtO Str1ct
formality and which any civilized >
standard Of values would render I'M
possible. Significantly, there is no hu-
NOR IN these publications. That would
destroy their deadly mawkishness and
obscure the seriousness with which
they are intended to be read.
THE morality is only a gloze over
an unvarying appeal to a stupid
brutishness. From cover to cover
in every detail Of makeup and illus
tratlon as well as in the actual body
OF the print, this foul tone is carried
out. Even the advertisements are
loaded with it. Indeed some Of these
are so deliberately offensive that one
wonders how they manage to escape
the attentions of postal authorities.
Well, by the word Of experienced news
dealers. this stuff has become the in
dispensable mental diet of thousands
OF Americans
So what? There is no answer of
course. The fact is that these maya
zines exist by reason Of popular wish
Tor them. Since the wish is unhealthy.
1t must be presumed that it comes
from an unhealthy condition, as a dis
eased stomach will crave unnatural
foods. Let the sociologists, then, deal
with this condition-if they can find
out what it is-for that is their lob.
A CORRESPONDENT whose sigma
ture, unfortunately, is illegible.
writes the reviewer as follows:
Dear Reviewer:
Mlttens and phonograph records
are not desired, nor will access tn
your files be requested, but here is a
suggestion that should interest YOU.
hope that in some form it may prove
possible.
Most intelligent people like to keen
ABREAST OF the times through the latest
non-nctlon books and magazines and
once In great while they find time
for good novel or story. A good re-
viewer fills an indispensable place in
the lives OF these people by throwing
out the culls which form a large per-
centage of publishing houses output.
But the worthy books are not limited
70 the present day. They go back into
ages. Thousands Of volumes of SUPER
latlve literary works; men have no real
gulde TO them. To be sure. in high
School and college We are taught some
OF the masters in more or less hap
hazard manner, but those of us who
old not major in English skinned the
surface just enough to pick up a few
names and one or two works-not
much more. BY now you must have
1orebodlngs Of my suggestion, and YOU
say something about "a gigantic task"
where would one begin?" sympa-
thize with you. but if you say that, pity
US average readers! hear about Plato.
and I hear about Goethe, but which one
Is most suited to my needs? Should
read both? Is some other philosopher
the one need? Such questions USUALLY
result in my not reading either. I hear
about Dantes Inferno" Cervantes'
Don Quixote" or Barries Little Min
lster." BY hap-perchance I read the
last Two, but are they more worthy
tnan the first? I don't want to be con-
tent with the second best, and I don't
know how to Judge the best in advance
Library cards are Of some help. but
they impersonally indicate the GOOD
with the bad.
Would it be possible for you to de-
vote portion of your page to the old
classics: Fiction, non-f1ction, religious
ana philosophical? Obviously Won
could but scratch the surface. but il
would be like digging ditch compared
10 the attempts most of us make. How
about it?
II am asking you to do 1t because
OF your honesty in reviewing the new
DOCKS. I like your courageous assault
on the tawdry, cheap or sensual
"nether or not written by big names
and your approval of new writer's, if
tne work merits approval. some
tlmes don't agree with you, but
know you are sincere and that's what
counts.
VERY TRULY YOURS"
WELL. the reviewer would like 10
add to her duties the renewing
OF her acquaintance with the classics,
She would enjoy it very much And
sne will do it, too, If her unknown
correspondent will tell her lust how
sne can mt the work into a schedule
which now includes reading a book a
day. examining the current period
icals' thinking great thoughts. answer
ing letters and restraining her temper
when, once a week, the publishers or
ner fellow critics discover the great
American novelist.
And also the gentleman whose
writing battles her must explain how
page of a daily newspaper. which is
after all, only eight inelastic columns
woe and % inches long. can be made
10 hold the past in print when the
present is Mississippi flood. The.
makeup man groans as it is. The
reviewer fears that the idea, however
excellent. will have to 20 into the
catalogue Of impossibilities.
THE reviewer, having purchased the
eight revolving magazines men,
toned above. felt hope that nobody
who knew her would meet her As she
carried the collection home. Then, de-
ciding that she might as well be
hanged for a sheep as q lamb. she
bought three more examples Of What
America Reads. These were High
Heel. Silk Stocking Stories and The
stocking Parade. They were bought
because the reviewer had never ex-
amined them. She ought to know.
she told herself, she really ought to
know.
She can inform you then that the
three are panderers to a taste for
semi-nudity. They are devoid of wit.
humor, taste or even beauty, for the
models who pose for the photographs
are without doubt the worlds premier
sourpusses. DO they sell well7" she
asked the dealer. "Oh, yes" he an
swered. They are first-rate sellers"
And then the reviewer took her
proud collection Of Americana home.
read 1t and wrote the above article, and