The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1942-11-28
BOOK NOTES
GERTRUDE SCOTT MARTIN

s~Ss~r~>~~~s>>>>>~->Ns>>~e
NIGHT SHIFT. the new novel by
Martha Wolff, BRANDON House
New York City. 1912, $270 has
enough material for several novels
There is a richness here. an ex.
pansive quality which makes for 8
wealth OF detail but which definite
ly cushions the impact OF the book
Careful pruning would have given
the book a punch which it just
misses having in its present form.
NIGHT SHIFT is the story Of two
sisters, Petey and Sally, set against
the background Of an industrial
city. Sally is sweet, good, devoted
mother to her three children whose
father is confined to the state hos
pitsl with mental disorder Sally.
a waitress. fin3s keeping her home
together no easy job and her broth
er, Joe. and sister Virginia. who
live with her only complicate her
task. Virginia, out OF work and in
love, tries to do her part of the
homework. but is discouraged and
out OF sorts, Joe, a coward gives
up his job after a bad accident in
the bumper factory where he works
and becomes a sort OF handy man
10 Nicky oresca, the Italian owner
of large night club. Sally works
for Nickys brother and Nicky
makes advances to her which she
ignores although fearful of her job.
Petey. the feminine Of the hail
fellow well met species. comes on
the scene in the nick of time at
Christmas when things are skinny
and Nicky is greater problem to
Sally Petey gets q job as a singer
in Nicky's night club and success
fully takes care Of that menace as
Of the others facing her family.
The characters are all more or
less typed, Sally, the good as gold
gal; Petey. the blustery lady OF easy
virtue; Nicky, the bully; Joe, the
coward; Gloria, the dumb. dumb
blonde; Johnny. the over loving
husband; Fred Foster. the hard ex-
terror with a heart OF gold. None
Of them seem to come alive and
the worst failure in this respect is
San, whom Petey loves AMI who
remains an unreal hulk TO the
reader.
Miss Wolff is a careful observer
and the wealth Of detail with which
she packs her book IS testimony OF
her ability in this direction. Yet,
here too, there is a hackneyed quail
ity, a repetition of unimportant
characteristics, an over-use of
cliches, 1t is here that Miss VOLTS
immaturity is perhaps most appar-
ent. Not yet "a. this is her second
novel and an unusual one in many
ways. With more careful selection
Of material and an eye for distin-
gushing details Miss VOLTS work
will show decided Improvement.
Her first novel, WHISTLE STOP,
won the major prize for fiction in
the Avery Hopwood awards at the
University of Michigan two years
ago. Detroiters will see something
familiar in the city described in
NIGHT SHIFT. The title is some
what misleading since the night
shift has little to do with the lives
of the characters of the novel.
x X X
In MANS MOST DANGEROUS
MYTH: HE FALLACY OF RACE
by Ashley Montagu' columbia Uni,
versity Press, New York, 1912 S2.25)
the author examines and discredits
the usually accepted ideas ascot
ated with the concept OF race. Mr.. \
Montagu in a chapter on the origin
of the race concept points out that
it is a ! ore or less modern de-
velopment. Prior TO the eighteenth
century all men were looked upon
as members Of the human race with |
no idea 4 one group being superior
or inferior. With the growth OF
abolitionist ideas in England and !
France went an attempt on the part
OF those on the other side to justify
slavery by showing that the en-
shaved were members Of an inferior
race, We are well aware Of how this
attack was used in our own country
in the early years Of the nineteenth
century and how the effects OF the
arguments have plagued the Negro
down to the present day. It is only
recently that scientists have expos
ed the fallacy of considering race as
a compound Of physical, mental,
personality and cultural traits
which determine the behavior OF
the individuals inheriting this al
legged compound" Mr.. Montagu
states that term race should be
used only in referring TO the five
or six large divisions of man, ii
should be replaced completely by
the word caste" in a cultural sense
and by the expression, "ethnic
group" in the biologic sense.
Hammering home tn