Evening star., 1939-02-05

EDNA
Whose autobiography, "A Pee
published by Doubleday, Doran
even If, as with the great German
population Of this country, there
has been no wrong done in the first
place. That, of course, is the
mentality to which Hitler has ad-
dressed his propaganda. Why do the
honest Germans in this country not
rise and denounce such nonsense In
a sensible land?
Well, If you want to feel that
you are walking backwards through
q kaleidoscope you can hardly
do better than read Mr.. Turrou's
book. A great respect should be
paid him that he managed to
come out of the business him.
self in q normal mental condition.
THE LITERARY LIFE AND THE
HELL WITH 1T. BY Whit Bur-
nett. With drawings by Ludwig
Bemelmans. New York: Harper
e. Bros.
Here Is another collection of RAM
bling essays, whimsical lone fears),
humorous. shrewd and all the rest
of it. Whit Burnett is one of the
editors of Story and has acquired
the pensive, tender sadism Of the
editorial mind to somewhat
marked degree. He writes Of writer's
whom he has met, of writer's whom
he has not met, of writer's whom he
does not want to meet and Of writ
ing, too. He is kind to his friends,
but, one feels, he likes rather to
cover his countenance and shudder
away when the mere garden variety
of writing man or woman comes be-
fore him. His book, indeed, is a sort
of constant shaking hands with
himself and the other editors of
Story and their esteemed associates
and a delicate fleeing from the vul-
gar rest of us. Can you bear 1t? II
you can, you should have some fun,
for, his attitude apart, Mr.. Burnett
writes nicely and has, too, some pat
things to say. But there are times,
in the course of reading his volume,
when you will certainly feel that he
is his own best argument for the title
which he has chosen.
THE OTHER BROTHER. BY
Clarissa Fairchild Cushman. Bos-
ton: Little Brown & Co.
This is sentimental novel about
two brothers who love the same girl
and haver about a lot over who will
get her and finally decide. It Is a
lady novelist at her most ladylike.
The reviewer is willing to say that
large number of people will like
it. But Judgment of Solomon
would be quicker Why couldn't the
brothers just cut the lady In two?
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN. BY Hor-
ace c. Levinson. New York: Far
rar &, Rinehart.
Perhaps the most dastardly crime
which blackens the record Of this
generation is the invention of the
trick forms to stud and draw poker,
in which all standards of value are
eliminated. They may eventually
cause the degeneration Of poker
into silly party game. Spit-in-the-
ocean, baseball, deuces- and jacks
wild-they are all so disgusting to
the honest poker player that he
feels like withdrawing to q hermit
age.
They are not only disgusting, but
alarming. They are symbolic of the
degeneration of the age, the most
characteristic feature of which is
the loss of values in all things
money, morals, artistry, labor. Poker
was great American invention,
perhaps the most realistic symboli-
zation of the true values of life ever
hit upon. Luck. cupidity, intelli-
gence, determination and all the
other factors which enter into the
game of life itself find their express
sion here.
Mr.. Levinson has prepared hand
book of these values-especially
those resulting from "luck"-which
are capable Of mathematical calcu-
lation. He corrects some common
misconceptions current in the past
about the chances of improving
hands on the draw, etc. This is a
book which should prove useful to
the serious poker player. It will in
crease his winnings, or at least cut
down his losses, if he studies it.
But 1t is especially to be recon-
mended to the despicable, dastardly
spit-in-the-ocean player If such a
person has the intelligence of rab-
bit he or she will get some faint
idea of the extent of the desecra-
ton to which he has lent himself,
the beauty of the structure in the
process of being demolished.
DR.. Levinson also examines the
laws of chance as they apply to
matching pennies, craps, roulette,
bridge, and, by implication, also any
game of chance one could mention.
He also devotes a chapter to extra
sensory perception, and, like most
other mathematicians who have
gone into the problem, tells the psy-
biologists to go play with their
marbles instead Of trying to invali-
date the statistical methods used
by DR.. j. B. Rhine. If there is any,
thing wrong with ESP, he says, it is
on the experimental and not the
statistical side. T. r. H.
SELECTED PAPERS OF HOMER
CUMMINGS. BY Carl Brent
Swisher. New York: Scribners.
Prof. Carl Brent Swisher of Johns
Hopkins University lifts the curtain
from part of the acknowledgements
moves leading up to the rise and
fall of the Presidents Supreme
Court reorganization plan in . we'll
edited volume Of selected Papers
of Homer Cummings" published by
Scribners.
The view revealed Is an intriguing
one, for IL Is always exciting to
be "let In" on secret strategy and