davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Mr.. Petunio
BIZ Oliver st. John Go9arty.
(CreatiUe AGE; S2.50J

(Creatiue Age; $780,
When novels literary as we'll as
commercial-run wearily to pattern,
as they do today, it is perhaps un-
grateful to complain of a work OF
fiction that it is like nothing under
the sun. But I can think OF no
other way to describe this one and
I make the description, moreover, on
a complaining note. For I do not
know, frankly, how am to convey
the oddity of MIR. Petunia" to my
readers. 1t is internal, as well as
external. The book is not only un-
like other contemporary flction-lt
is unlike itself. Its setting is unlike
it's plot and it's people are unlike
their period. Despite this, it Is in
an exquisitely neat little story. In
short, it's an Irish tale-a welter OF
contradictions, all in harmony.
1t is a study of a paranoid, hor-
rid little cockney matchmaker VINO
has set himself up as a gentleman
in a society of Virginia planters in
the 182Os. He builds his insufficient
ego up by associating with interiors
-lavishing gifts on some and abuse
on others. Bye and bye he plots
blackmail, commits crime to cover
his traces and is properly hanged.
While he trips about on his unsa-
worry doings, cast of curious char
acters gives him support-Virgina
gentry straight out of a European
imagination. When you reach the
last page you feel as if you had seen
some bright-colored little phantoms
doing a neat dance in limbo. Every
body is brightly alive and nobody
has any reality whatsoever. Well,
as I said. it's an Irish tale.
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Book Reviews in Brief
HISTORY.

The Cossacks, by Maurice Hindus
Doubleday, DoranD The story OF
the famous tribe. A good deal OF the
book is given to insistence that the
Soviet government has brought out
the good in the Cossack while dl-
minishing the evil. Very edifying.
The Piasts of Poland, by Anton
Gronowicz. (ScribnersD A little
history of Poland told through the
experiences of one family through
the centuries. Amiable
Federalism and Regionalism in
Germany, by Arnold Brecht. OK.
fordD A study of German politica
organization from the beginning o.
the goth century to the present
The Liberal Tradition, by William
Aylott Orton. (YaleD An expo
sition of the historical meaning oi
liberalism, emphasizing the distinc'
ton between liberalism and the pre-
vailing isms of today. left as well a.
right. Most pertinent.
PSYCHOLOGY.
Back 10 Life, by Herbert I, Kupper
MD. Fischer, On the emotiona
readiustment OF veterans to civiliar
existence.
| Human Nature in the Making. b!
Max Schoen. ID Van Nostrand.
Study of the factors which SHAPE
nersonalitV
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Among
the Authors
Rp CAROLYN CoqpinS

The movie of Ben AmeS Williams
Leave Her to Heaven opens in
New York next week at the Roxy.
1t is in technicolor with Gene Tier
ney, Cornell Wilde and Jeanne Grain
starring Twentieth Century-Fox
hope to get the 1916 Academy Award
with it, not to mention lush box
office receipts.
Joe E. Brown, who wrote Your
Kids and Nine is the only civilian
except the late Ernie Pyle, to re-
ceive the Bronze Star of the United
States Army. The l50,000-mile trip
visiting the troops which he de-
scribes in his book is the reason for
the honor.
Humm another elegant party
This time Stanley and Fay Rinehart
gave it at the Barberry Room for an
author -- cartoonist rather - Abner
Dean. Before revealing the title of
his book, the explanation of how he
produced one is interesting. He
simply revolted from his CONNER
cial art job of drawing things for
tooth powder, or whatever it was he
made illustrations for, by drawing
psychological studies in cartoons OF
the funny people in this world. That
the men and women in his bookful
of these eccentrics never wear
clothes needs explanation. too. 1t
! is not that they are sexy as well
as nude, they just simply do not
need clothes whatever it is they are
doing. We leave the rest to you
Evening star., 1945-12-23
BY ". H. Shibben, J,
Star staff Correspondent.

MORRISON FIELD, WEST PALM
BEACH, Fla, Dec. 22.-All-weather
highways in the sky probably as
safe and certainly as definitely To-
Gated as those on the ground were
demonstrated here this week by the
Army Air Forces with equipment
previously held under wartime Sc
curity wraps.
With traffic jams stacking up in
the winter holiday season over air.
ports plagued by bad weather, the
AAF took the occasion to show op-
irrational and experimental blind
flying devices developed under con-
ditions which made the homing
ability of military sirmen an inn
portant element of survival
Ground and airborne navigational
aids demonstrated here, the old as
well as the new. point toward the
day when air passengers can be
assured they will arrive on time al
though storms may be beating at
the windows while the airport ahead
is blacked out by rain, clouds or fog
Art Lost 10 Years Ago.
The experts were frank TO admit
that in some blind landing tech
niques they are trying to recapture
an art lost 10 years ago, and in
others they are experimenting with
radar and remote control innova-
tions that may be too costly or COM
plex for commercial use in the neal
future However, here are a few
things they showed airline techni.
clans. Civil Aeronautics Administra.
ton specialists and news writer's
| A typical group of Douglas DC.
transports cleared down from thei
holding" pattern over the air a
intervals of two or three minute
instead of the usual Is and wer,
flown blind into landing position
ON the runway by pilots who couls
see nothing except their instrument
| panels.
A four-motored Skymaster whose
pilots, by operating push-buttons
coupled the big transports auto.
matte pilot with ground radio beams
defining the approach highway.
The transport banked and circlec
IN a perfect arc, found the high.
way, centered it and approached al
the proper glide angle to put its
wheels down on the runway without
manual aid
| A radar device which shows q
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Public
Library
HOLIDAY MUSIC.
By Marie Wikauder,

Head Music Division. Washington Public
Library.
Some of the recent biographies oil
musicians seem tailormade for the
relaxed reading of the holiday
season.
OF interest to every one, even those
not usually drawn to the music field
for general reading, is the new biog-
raphy Of the great tenor, Enrico
Caruso, by his wife, Dorothy Car,so
In "Enrico Caruso, His Life and
Death" she shows the singer as she
saw him and as he appeared in his
letters to her. It is a touching
biography and adds greatly to oul
knowledge of both man and the
singer.
Anoher outstanding nev biog-
raphy is Alfred Einstein's Mozart
His Character, His Work" The
well-known musicologist. not to be
confused with the scientist, draws
on his lifetime study and love o1
Mozart to throw new light on the
composers life and character, as
well as to give detailed analyses Of
his works. I
The letters Of Felix Mendelssohn
as newly selected and edited by G.
|Selden- Goth, provide insight into
the musical and literary personali-
ties Of the 18th century.
Evening star., 1945-12-23

in the Army, he was not permitted
to release his saga of Siberia, for
fear of international complicat tions.
This danger was removed at the
time of Pearl Harbor. His manu-
script was not revised, however, and
is presented much as it might have
been without World War II inter-
vening.
Col. Kindall relates how units of
the 9th and 31st Infantry in the
Philippines-predecessors of regi-
ments which made fame in World
War II-were shipped to Vladivostok
in August, 1918, and remained there
until January, 1920, and he relates
how the Americans fought Bolshe-
viks, Chinese, japanese and even
fellow Americans in a strange Sc
quence of episodes of forgotten
| army."
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Gold in the Streets
By Mary Vardoulakts. (Dodd
Mead: S2.50.)
Reviewed by
RENA LEVANDER.

In this, her first novel, Miss Var
doulakis gently and with deep COM
passion pictures the American be-
ginnings of the Greek Vardas family
and their friends. They came to
America, these Greeks. because OF
Drakos, agent for a cotton mill in
Chicopee, Mass. Its big place,
he told them, where you don't feel
the mountains. where people move
about when they don't like where
they are. Even the poor dress like
the rich because they have what you
don't-cash.
In Gold in the Streets" the peo-
pie walk humbly; they are very SIM
pie and very real. In general, the
pace is slow. Occasionally the &C
tion shifts abruptly, usually after
decisions are made. Once George
Vardas has decided to leave Greece
there is a clean break in the con-
tinuity and the scene changes al
mos Immediately to America. Miss
Vardoulatis' STYLE is unpretentious;
it is l.c-'cnt,y rich, but never
garuy. I. * "c niniscent of Saroy-
an-S-:.,c'l minus his eXuberant
incchtrc.e~ &C has the capacity
to port"2y t,,c H..stful inarticulate-
ne.5 o. =" beings trained to
supprc~5 t'-' ceilings, yet she does
not rela~ :, Saroyan's irrepres-
sible wni. ;c"l'ty.
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Best Sellers
-NATION-WIDE-


tAccordins to Publishers Weekly
FICTION.
1st-The Black Rose, Thomas B. Co.'S
2d-Cass Tjmberlane. Sinclair Lewis.
3d-The White Tower, James Ramsey
4th-The Peacock Sheds His Tail.
5th-Forever Amber, Kathleen VIM
NoNFICTION.
1st-Up Front. Bill Mauldin.
2d-The Egs and l. Betty MacDon-
3d-Gen. Marshars Report, George
L, Marshall.
4th-Braye den, Ernie Pyle.
5th-Pieasant Valley, Louis Bromfleld.
in WASHINGTON
FICTION.
1st-Cass Timbcrlane, Sinclair Lewis.
2d-The Black Rose. Thomas B. Cos
3d-The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand.
4th--so Well Remembered. James
5th-The River Road, Francis Park
inson Keyes.
NoNFICTIoN.
1st-Gen. MsrshalPs Report. George
C. Marshall.
2d-Wartime Mission in Spain, Carl
sd-The Periious Fight, Neil Swan
4thEThe Esr and l. Betty Mac
5th-Advcntur In Diplomacy, Ken
meth Pendar.
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Reviewed by
QUENTIN r. MOTT.

An American patrol strobe down
the street at dusk when burst OF
rifle fire caused them to seek shelter
in ditch, where for several min
utes they exchanged shots with an
unseen enemy. "Americanski," they
yelled. There was no answer except
more shots.
Finally, American bullets found
their mark. There was a mortal
scream and the shooting stopped
japanese jabbering started up in
the opposite ditch. They hauled Out
a dead comrade, hastily giving g
countersign.
The incident did two things. Il
made Col Kindall, author of thi.
book, the first American to bt
awarded the Purple Heart fol
wounds received in an engagement
with the Japs and second, it prompt.
ed him to carry out his intention
of writing about the forgotten
army"
1t happened after the close of the
World War and in Siberia, where
the Army kept 10000 men on mis-.
sion which turned out to be one ol
the top "screwball" adventures ol
military misapplication.
For Is years, while he was still
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Here Is Ferocious
Mockery in a New
Point of View
IT'S A LONG WAY TO HEAVEN

By Abner Dean. Farrar G.
Rhinehart; $780,
The satirical artist is not news.
We have always had him. Neither
Is the material of his satire apt to
be fresh, for it is humanity. But
the method of the satirist may be
original and, with those who have
attained fame in their generations,
you can say that it always has
been that.
That does not mean, however, that
the successful Satirist invents his
method out of sheer ingenuity. 1t
means that he works out method
that belongs precisely to his day,
that neither lags behind the popu-
lar understanding nor runs ahead
of it. To such neat timing in our
own day we may attribute the vogue
OF Abner Dean-and that OF the
school to which Mr.. Dean belongs.
He is the illustrator of the sub
conscious in about such terms as
the man in the street understands,
or can understand by little effort.
And, of course, the man in the street
understands good deal. Ours is the
generation which took down Freud
with its nursing formula and, by the
time it was ready for junior high,
could stare the libido coldly out OF
countenance. 1t is not noticeably
better than other generations-or
different. 1t wants the same things
and makes the same mistakes. But
it has different rationalizations Tor
its dreams and errors. Mr.. Dean
has been brilliant in working those
rationalizations into his contem-
porary portrayal Of the everlasting
nonsense.
There's No Hope for Them.
Sixty-five of his drawings are col
lected in the present volume, and
the purpose of the IS is one-to
show the humankind as a species
for which there is no diScernible
hope. Cavorting light-heartedly in
Cimmerian landscapes, grossly lg-
BILE of form, devoid of any physl-
al distinction except sex or an
mental quality beyond a beamins
.~edulity, repulsive and pitiable-ln
those general conditions the DC
lures set us down. In each separate
drawing there is naturally par
ticular emphasis. Usually the en-
phasis derives from that narrow fleld
of Freudian psychology which has
become familiar ground TO the gen.
erality.
1t is ferocious mockery, but it is
not that alone. 1t is also humor,
deeply genial-snd it is in that,
it seems to me, that Mr.. Dean S
genius lies. He has so mastered
his method that, while he seems to
be following a blueprint Of the vul-
gar understanding, he also conveys
the shout of his own cleansing
laughter. In his particular school
this is a noteworthy achievement.
Evening star., 1945-12-23

ton can tell the pilots when they
swing few feet off the beam in any
direction. This operates independ-
emily of the radio guide on the con-
troll panels.
Perhaps the most spectacular DEM
onstration of things to come was
that of the AAF all-weather flying
unit, which brought down a Douglas
Skymaster equipped with automatic
push-button controls from its base
near Columbus. Ohio. The big plane
automatically picked up the honing
range or, with twist of dial oper-
ated from a waist station, would
swing in perfect circle and return
to the range.
Another dial locked the transports
automatic pilot into the landing ap-
proach beams from the ground and
sent the million-d load of ma
chinery and mechanical brains down
a path to the runway as exact, even
in rather turbulent air. as if it had
been laid out by surveyors tram
sit Standby pilots never touched
the manual controls while the plane
dragged its wheels over the runway
twice and then circled back a third
time to make a complete blind land
ing.
Areas Of Turbulence Spotted.
In a Flying Fortress equipped
with a radarscope much simpler
than that developed for bombing by
instruments newsmen flew down the
cost toward Miami to see how storm
centers could be spotted 20 miles or
more away.
/ Ordinarily a line squall or cold
front looks like an unbroken wall Of
clouds, but the radar picked out dark
spots or areas of turbulence where
, heavy rain or electrical disturbances
, were forming. This enabled the
, pilots to fly between danger points
, although visibility was zero. Almost
no turbulence was encountered.
i The same scope looks through the
overcast to reveal shore lines, lakes.
rivers, passing planes or even cities.
and can be used to get precise direc-
tional fixes on ground marker bea-
cons as an aid to the navigator.
After we landed, one newsman re-
marked, do you think the human
eyeball is here to stay?"
Anyhow, if they develop a cheap
substitute, replied an airman, I'VE
pilots will be the push-button boys
of the future"
Evening star., 1945-12-23

pended, one can only say that 1t Is
too bad.
The trouble seems to be that Mrs.
Wilbur was interested in the East
India Company as a company, rath-
er than as a force or as group Of
people. She devoted herself mainly
to reporting its various charters and
terms of organization and in that
effort she gives a connected and use
full account. The relations of the
company to the English crown, its
adaptation to changing conditions
of English politics, the terms on
which at different times it sent its
men into the East-these factual
matters she follows through faith
fully. You can read her book and
know how the East India Co. func-
toned rs business organization in
which = government had an inter-
Evening star., 1945-12-23
Boy Almighty


Press; S2.75J
In this novel a young man is taken
to county tuberculosis sanitarium
in an extremely grave condition and
remains there two years until he is
cured. In depicting the conditions
m such hospital, the book is a
work OF verisimilitude; one does not
doubt that the author knows what
he is talking about. But de-
ScripIon of hospital is hardly a
novel in itself. So we have the
character of the young man to sup
ply the other ingredients and. un-
fortunately, in this respect the book
is a failure. Eric. the hero, is q
composite of all the trite properties
Evening star., 1945-12-23

which immature authors custom
arily load on idealized male char
acters.
He is a poet Feike Feikema calls
him "the Poet"), he is an idealist, a
dreamer. a lover of justice, a lover
of life, sympathizer with the op-
pressed-in short, Eric is pure ham,
So you do not care what happens
to him and, since that is true, you
will need to be interested in tuber-
culosis sanitaria to be interested ir
the book. II you have that taste
however. Boy Almighty" will serve
it Vividly.
Evening star., 1945-12-23
The Problem of India Brought to Focus
In the Liqht of British ImperioIism

est. But it will seem to almost any
reader that that knowledge by nc
means covers the case.
There are also the social and the
romantic histories to be told-the
Interpretation of the changes which
the company brought to India as il
progressed from small fleets of mer.
chant ships to a conquering power
and the story of the personalitie.
involved on both sides. To these
matters Mrs. Wilbur, in the main
gives only colorless brief mention
When occasionally she does displa,
little feeling of her own, she of.
Evening star., 1945-12-23
The Small General
By Robert StdndiSh. (Macmil-
Ian; $250.J
REVIEWED by
c.. B. WIMSATT,

U. B. WIMSATT.
In this novel, Robert Standish has
left behind him the Land Of the Ris-
ing Sun, scene of THE Three Bam-
boos" and 'Bonin." He has crose01
lie Yellow Sea and taken up J.
;tand in Suchow, the City Of Sill -
doubtless atop the Great PsRoda
at the end of Dragon street-from
whence his eye SN eepS d countryside
where the mulberry is the treasure
tree of the people and the silk worm
the pampered deSpot of the province
From his literary lookout Mr.. STAN
dish takes note of many things be-
side feverish competition between
native silk producers and the machi-
nations Of japanese agents intent on
spying out new processes, better
techniques, speedier methods OF in
creasing their own output of this
spun gold. He never forgets that
entertainment Is what the reader
looks for in a book on China.
He does not disappoint this ex-
pectation. In a running narrative
that fairly sparkles under a China
sky he tells the tale of Sung of
Sung's Island, of the father and
his son, each of whom in turn has
held the hereditary title and high
office of Small General of the
Ducks.
Sung the father is the hero of
the earlier chapters of the book and
more engaging trickster it has
seldom been my luck to encounter.
When he has successfully out
smarted his compatriots, he is con-
fronted by politely kissing Mr.
Kiyoshi Matsudara, the monkey
with the golden teeth as he is
known to the lake people. a minor
agent of negligible Importance te
the great Fureno Trading Co. with
headquarters in Tokyo. Let us draw
veil, silken veil, over the fate
of Mr.. Kiyoshi Matsudara.
AS for our hero of the latter
chapters, the small general, he il
just 9 years of age on page l, still
unapprised of the titanic struggle.
soon destined to sweep through the
land. When he closes the covers Of
the book in our faces he is family
man. We glimpse him with fellow
patriots, standing armed with little
more than native cunning, courage
and determination under the cloud.
of war piling black on the horizon
But young Sung has seen his
honored father deal with thu
monkey men and emerge trium.
phant from the encounter. HI
knows he is a match for the enemy
He may die in conflict, but there will
remain Sungs on Sung's Island long
after japanese aggression is only
one more chapter in China's per-
sistent history.
Evening star., 1945-12-23

one of tn o Sc
things which be-
gins with de-
ceptive reason
ableness a n d
then, by imper-
ceptible degrees,
departs fr m
reason bit by bit
until it has left
it behind alto
gether. AS 1t is
very persuasive
ly written, you
will not want to
put 1t down at
any point, but
mill n anQ on,
Evening star., 1945-12-23
B. O. w. S.
By MGrgalo Gilmore and Pa
tricia ColIinge. (Harcourt
Brace & Co.; $780,
Reviewed by
MACARTHUR

Brace d CO., SZ.5O.
Reviewed by
HARRY MACARTHUR.
There have been instances when
those we'll known in the theater
have applied themselves as authors
only to prove in the end that the
art of acting and the art of writing
a simple declarative sentence must
have little in common. Margalc
Gilmore, however. is not one oi
these. She is a witty woman with a
knack for turning the phrase proper
to the moment.
"B. o. w. S." was the succinct term
Immediately applied by the Army
and as Immediately adopted by the
cast when THE Barretts of VIM
pole Street" was sent abroad as q
USO entertainment by the American
Theater Wing and the book for
which the title was borrowed is the
story of that tour. Miss Gilmore
who went along as a member of the
cast, and Miss Collinge, who stayed
home to receive letters, have told
their story chronologically, from the
moment when Katharine Cornell
first was approached to that when
the hills of Scotland blended into
the mist behind. the stern of the
westward-bound Queen Mary.
Between these two moments there
is a deal of adventure and fun, plus
some romance and some heartbreak,
punctuated by times when appre-
hension was the only emotion felt
by any member of the cast, from
Miss Cornell and Brian Aherne
down to the Yorkshire terrier who
impersonated the cocker spaniel,
Flush, of the play. At first there
was feeling that a war theater
was not exactly the place to find
the proper audience for "Barretts'
but Miss Cornell said simply that
she wanted to do her best and this
was her best. Then there, came o
series of adventures such as nc
touring theater troupe encountered
before, in the jaunt across Italy
France and Holland. almost at the
very tip of the bulge, when 1t was
being slowed, stopped and then
turned back.
Altogether this makes the sort Of
reading you don't like to put aside
And it sums up, perhaps uninten
ionally, as warm tribute to tht
Gheater and its people.
Evening star., 1945-12-23

fers 1t in a fiat, dogmatic manner.
For instance, she tells us that War
rem Hastings was a martyr to his
enemies, but she does not develop
the claim The killing of 10 Eng
lishmen by the Dutch in the early
days of trade rivalry she calls zone
OF the blacklist crimes in all his
tory" a statement which seems, on
the whole, to indicate foreshort-
ened perspective, all history being
what all history is. These are ex-
amples of her interpretative faculty,
On the other hand, there is some-
thing to be said for a noninterpre-
tative record. It gives you facts.
It allows you to use your own pow
ers. Though in a lifeless manner,
Mrs. Wilbur has done that. Consid-
ering the Importance of her subject,
1T Is Z contribution to knowledge.
Evening star., 1945-12-23

and the book, "It's Long Way to
Heaven"
Abner Dean looks like a shorter
stouter Walter Pidgeon. With his
dark hair and piercing blue eyes
he is quite a handsome author ano
in every way is the kind of a per-
sonage that even Mary Roberts
Rinehart would come out to party
to honor. That she did not get te
this one was due to atrocious
weather, for she was expected.