davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1953-12-13

Blood on the Boards. BY Will
liam Campbell Gault. (E. P.
Dutton q Co.. Inc; $2.500
A homicide detective inher-
its a pile Of money, retires and
finds time hanging heavy un-
til a blond interests him in
little theater. Murder intrudes,
but not enough to interfere
with either the production or
the ex-detective's romance.
There's plenty Of time to dis
cuss art, cops and communism.
Still. the casual approach is a
relief from the intensity of
most whodunits and the mur-
der gimmick is ingenious.
The Saint in Europe. BY Leslie
Charters. doubleday & Co.
Inc: $2.75.)
Crime Club.
Simon Templar. alias the
Saint, vacations in Europe by
getting mixed up in a variety
of situations, ranging from
diamond robbery to smuggling.
Beautiful maidens are his ex-
cuse for most of his adventures
in these seven light-hearted
Evening star., 1953-12-13

find Mr.. Kramer's show the
most enjoyable of the three.
Leon Berkowitz' abstract ex-
presSioniSt paintings in the
west gallery comprise his first
one-man show, although he
has participated in group
shows for some years. Half Of
the current display is COM
posed Of paintings Of 1850 to
1852, the other half work Of
this year. The earlier paint
ingS are darker. richer in color
and more emphatic in delinea-
tion of forms than this years,
which are generally larger,
higher in key and more exu-
berant in effect. The titles
will not afford the uninitiated
any help. They are hereby
urged to read the lyrical ap-
probation by Jacob Kainen in
the shows catalog. Obvi-
ously Mr.. Kainen has caught
fire from these paintings, and
few if any other writer's (cer-
tainly not u could surpass his
description of them.
Well Known Here
Mr.. Berkowitz is best known
in Washington as program di-
rector Of the Workshop Center
of the Arts. and as art teacher
at Eastern High School. He
has studied painting extern
Sively.
Mary Orwen's Is abstrac-
tions in the east gallery appear
at first glance to be as nom
objective as Mr.. Berkowitz',
but with primary colors as
their predominant tonality, in
contrast to Mr.. Berkowitz' pre-
dominant warm pink, black,
grayS and off-whites. Mrs.
Orwen's abstract forms have
soft edges. However, nearly all
Of her paintings take off from
concrete themes (e.g., "Wo-
man Hanging Clothes"
washing Dishes" ETC.. and
if the visitor studies them at
tentively. he will be able to
discern the subjects mistily,
as through a fog.
Mrs. Driven, an industrious
exhibitor in group shows, has
won two prizes at the Corcoran
Gallery area ANIMALS, was
chosen Artist of Tomorrow"
at a Whyte Gallery exhibition
Evening star., 1953-12-13

from fancy. Joaquin's life
actually was adventurous, but
he had a way of romanticizing
everything that made the
reality hard to find. He used
to say his pen name-his real
name was Cincinnatus Hiner
Miller-came from the Cali
fornia bandit, Joaquin Muri-
eta. whom the poet once, so
he said. befriended. The fact
that Murietta died when Miller
was a boy back East never
bothered him. Miller also said
he was born in a covered
wagon; actually he travelled to
Oregon in one when he was IA.
He did fight Indians, but not
in some Of the battles he de-
scribed. His poetry is almost
forgotten today; it rarely ap-
pears in the newer anthologies.
But no one in or on the fringe
Of American letters had q more
colorful career and he is still
remembered in California,
where he died revered at the
age of Is in 1913.
Mr.. Marberry has made the
most of the true and legendary
experiences of a man who
was more an impersonator of
a poet than a poet.
&C. B. j.
Evening star., 1953-12-13
Artists and Exhibitions
By Florence S. Berymon

fection of Mr.. von Huhn's
work that it impresseS not
only the avant-garde, but also
the lay public. who rate good
craftsmanship high, in what
ever medium. His water COL
ors are mostly non-objective,
with linear forms Of exquisite
precision. and demonstrating
his inventive Imagination, in
jewel-like colorS on black
grounds. His prints are alb
Stract conceptions inspired by
primitive and archaic. art
(there are many with African
motifs in the present collec-
tion). fish and other undersea
forms, and several other
sources. These are decorative
~ stylized and fill their space
with beautiful balance. He
also gets variety in his choice
Of papers. printing some sub
jectS in black on textured gold
or silver, warm tans and other
colors.
John Galloway, formerly of
American University's art
faculty, now at the Univer-
sity of Alabama. has written
a warm interpretive apprecia-
ton of Mr.. Won Huhn's work.
which is available with the
catalog at George Washing
ton University library.
Evening star., 1953-12-13

comes increasingly easy.
Mr.. Bradbury, peering into
the future in a short, dra-
matte novel. has envisioned
televiSion and radio as usher
ing in mass state Of mind
which could easily accept a
totalitarian United States.
For the purpose of his thesis,
the anti-intellectualism of to-
Gay, the tug away from cul-
ture and toward practical"
subjects in the schools, sim
ply has gone on to a logical
conclusion.
Books to Be OutIowed
We see an America some
years hence, at an unspecified
date, still technically a repub-
lie, not overly oppressive so
long as citizens go along with
the mass mind and refrain
from ideas, really from think
ing. Books. except q few pub
1ications like comics, have
been outlawed. People are
educated, or so it is called, by
films and other mechanical
aids.
Since all buildings have
been completely f1reproofed,
f1remen are employed to burn
books and other forbidden
articles. They carry flame
throwers instead of hoses and
extinguishers. The walls of
houses are fitted for the i'm
proved television of that day.
A tiny radio receiver, called a
shell, can be fitted against
the ear, so that no one need
be alone with his thoughts
when moving about a city.
Even newspapers have disap-
peared because they stirred up
too much trouble, reporting
too much the people should
not know.
The ok-burning is not so
much an expression Of political
intolerance as it is of hatred
and jealousy of rebels who re-
fuse to conform to the mass
mind. Some cling secretly to
their books until neighbors,
Evening star., 1953-12-13
Watkins Trio

A trio of one-man shows is
on view at Watkins Gallery,
American University campus,
through next Friday, when
the university closes for the
Christmas holidays. Each
artist has a separate gallery.
Reuben Kramer, Baltimore
sculptor, fills the central GAL
lery with 10 small sculptures
and IA outline drawings, a
retrospective show covering
nearly two decades. Mr..
Kramer Is already well known
in Washington, having ex-
hibited in area group shows
and having won important
sculpture awards in the
Washington Baltimore area,
including two "f1rsts" here
last year at the Corcoran, and
the Washington Sculptors'
Group.
Sculptors are. by the nature
of their medium, limited as to
theme. Mr.. Kramer's show is
composed largely of nude
figures. on which he has rung
changes through the years.
He has convention of long
torsos, wasp waists and heavy
thighs, which description does
not do justice to the balance
and attraction of these little
figures, in most instances.
Three standing girls cover
ing some Is years of his work
are sisters under the skin, left
leg forward, arms akimbo,
remote and poised. Recent
works have a rougher texture
than earlier interpretations.
Abstroct Sculpture
Mr.. Kramer has made sew
eral excursions into abstract
sculpture, showing simple
forms in polished brass, and
beautifully finished wood, and
a bronze of two forms the con-
crete-minded layman might
describe as dancing worms"
His expressive outline draw
ings are akin to the sculptures.
The lay visitor will probably
Evening star., 1953-12-13

was, DIS Iklc
Victorians used to say. a fig
ure. Tall, muscular, good look
ing, with flowing hair and
beard, he affected the costume
and the ways Of the plains
man. He would recite his
verses at the drop of a measure
Of whisky and would tell his
tall tales of the West without
provocation.
A CoIorfuI Career
When Joaquin Miller went
to England in 1870, a young
man, he knew absolutely no
one. He was broke and he
hiked from Glasgow to Lon
don. Then, Tom Hood, a son
of the famous poet, took a
liking to him and wisely ad-
viSed him to shed his drab
clothes and dress like a from
tierSman. Miller did and he
was an overnight sensation in
British literary circles. He
came to know such celebrities
as Browning, SWinburne and
Anthony Trollop. The Ro-
settiS and their pre-Raphael-
ties made him one of them.
His first book of poems was
praised by English critics with
an extravaganza that seems
strange today. When the book,
printed in England, reached
his own country. its reception
was many degrees colder.
In recording the life of Mil
Ter. Mr.. Marberry has had
quite a time separating fact
Evening star., 1953-12-13

promiscuous servant girl. and
Johnson's Life of Sir Richard
Savage" is the biography of a
savage man who was base
born of noble parents and felt
the world owed him a living.
Mrs. Gaskell's Cousin Phillis'
is an unpretentious Vic
torian charmer, but Peacock's
Nightmare Abbey" with a
wealth Of contemporary al
lusion, seems an antique bore.
The most interesting entry is
Virginia Woolf's posthumously
published Between the Acts"
a playful, poetic and provoca-
tive study of that most English
of institutions, the village
pageant, on the eve of World
War II. Aldous Huxley, Joseph
Sheridan lie Fanu, Conrad, and
Eliot are others whose work
the editor admits, never rivals
that of Fitzgerald or James in
the form. but who performed
creditably.
-M.EMcG.
Evening star., 1953-12-13

Washington art galleries
and museums are strong COM
petitors of department stores,
shops and club bazaars this
month for Christmas gift
givers. Since Thanksgiving,
several galleries have opened
Christmas exhibitions. with
original paintings, prints
sculptures and crafts, with a
wide price range. All will re-
main through December, for
the benefit not only of those
looking for a different" gift
to bestow. but also of recip-
tents of Christmas checks.
The Corcoran Gallery's Christ
mas decorations show, opened
Friday evening with a second
special musical program this
afternoon, is a gold mine of
ideas for Christmas decora-
tions in the home.
The Obelisk Gallery is show
ing ''Pocket-Size Paintings"
some of which are small
enough for occupants of sin
gle rooms with no wall space,
as well as a group of drawings
and water colorS Of Italian cit
les by Robert Parkinson, a
young Scottish artist trained
as an architect.
The Whyte Gallery recently
unveiled its 18th anniversary
Christmas exhibition by Wash
ington artists. The Artists
Mart has opened several gall
leries on it's second floor for
large paintings and sculpture.
besides a bewildering variety
in it's ground-floor gallery.
The IFA Galleries and UrselPs
are both showing modern jew
elry and ceramics for people
of progressive" tastes. These
will be reviewed here in more
detail as space permits.
The Workshop Art Center
will auction off today the
paintings, sculpture and ce-
ramics in the exhibition
opened last Sunday for the
benefit of its building fund
described here November 29).
Evening star., 1953-12-13

In this rather low-pres-
sure anthology the distin-
guished English critic, Cyril
Connolly, states fatty at the
outset that in the realm of
short novels the English have
never been great" They have,
however, been reasonably
amusing, ingenious, and in
triguing. And with their limi-
tations in mind, he has gone
about collecting II samples
which comprise a passable
bedside book.
Mr.. Connolly makes the fe-
licitous comparison of the
short novel to the string quar-
tet. George Meredith's en-
chanting 1.-THE Case of General
Ople and Lady Camper" per-
fectly answers the description,
being light, flowing and Mo-
zartian. Other entries have a
far different sound. For in
stance, William Hazlitt's "Liber
Amoris" is a painful, excrutiat-
ingly detailed account of his
disastrous love affair with a
Evening star., 1953-12-13
(Harcourt, Brace; $2.5OJ
Reviewed by Mary MeGrory

and churliSh Crampfurl, the
gardener. Presently, they are
joined by a lonesome, conva-
lescent 10 = year old boy, who
upsets the routine on which
borrowers thrive and COM
pletely disrupts the peaceful
home life of the Clocks.
Life in Miniature
The Clock menage, in con-
traSt to Aunt Sophy'S, where
every one except the boy has
recourse to the Madeira. is a
miniature citadel of bristling
Victorian respectability. Pod,
the husband, is the grumbling
provider; his wife. Homily, a
busy, house proud, maSsively
bourgeois matron. The pride
of their lives is their bright
14-year-old daughter Arrietty,
who, like any 14-year-old, has
delusions of grandeur. Her
first day out borrowing with
Papa, she runs into the boy
and explains the family code
borrowing from human be-
ings is just life-borrowing
from other borrowers is steal
ing). With him as her agent.
she tries to get in touch with
another branch of the family
which emigrated, and thereby
brings on the Clocks first great
affluence and then dreadful
confusion.
Mary Norton deserves great
credit for putting the people"
back in that odious term
little people" She writes
about the Clocks without the
slightest Sentimentality or con-
descension. They are per-
fectly real in their scaled
down world, which anybody of
any size can enter with joy.
The Borrowers" is fantastic,
satirical or Illuminating, de-
pending on how old, wise or
absent-minded you are. 1t
will doubtless, become a classic
of children'S literature-par-
ticularly if adults have any
thing to say about it.
Evening star., 1953-12-13
Crime and Mystery
Reviewed by Miriom Gutenberg

tales. Ever blithe, but withal
Steely-eyed, he solves a couple
murders, prevents a suicide,
teaches a spoiled damSel the
true values and generally man
ages to accumulate a small
fortune in the course of each
adventure. His grand tour will
please his following.
Bright Serpent. BY James
M. Fox. Little, Brown &
Co.; $2.75D
In an Introductory note, the
author advises the unwary:
You probably won't believe a
word of this one" He claims
that only a selected group of
Southern Californians will find
it credible. Even that is hard
to believe. Collected in this
folly are q wife who manages
to keep her poise while trying
to get her husband committed
to an asylum, a pair of unlikely
kidnapers, an outraged lion,
the participants in a black
mass and. of course. Johnny
and Suzy Marshall. You have
been warned.
Evening star., 1953-12-13
The Borrowers
BY Mary Norton.

It will be a lucky child who
gets "The Borrowers" for
Christmas, and an even luckier
one who gets it aS>ay from his
parents. For this little story
from England is like electric
trains-supposedly for the
children, but every one knows
who has the fun.
Because it is funny, fresh
and exciting, it should diSarm
those readers whose toes curl
up at the mere mention Of
little people" and other such
agents of whimsy. But its
real message is for the losers
of this world, people like my
self who are reduced to read
ing the 'lost and found" adds
for daily consolation. Mary
Norton has set forth a thesis
long suspected by us losers,
that things are never really
lost, but are taken, or rather
borrowed.
The Little and the Big
BY way Of proof, she takes
us into the bosom of a family
of borrowers, the Clocks, so
named because their house
inside the walls opens out on
to a hole underneath the hall
clock. Their little home is
furnished entirely with those
little things that are forever
slipping out of the grasp of
larger humans. Their gate is
a safety pin. Their soup sim
mers in a thimble, Mrs. Clock
does her washing in the lid
Of q pickle jar, their drawing
room is papered with old let
tiers adorned with postage
stamp portraits of Queen Vic
toria, and in the corner stands
a knight from a chess set,
lending that air to the room
which only statuary can give"
On the other side of the wall
live some enormous people:
Aunt Sophy, bed-ridden from
an old hunting accident, at
tended by cross Mrs. Driver
Evening star., 1953-12-13
Books in Review
Prophetic Novel Follows Dangerous
Path Toward q Depressing Future
Fohrenheit 451
BY Ray Bradbury (Ballantine hardbound, $780, paper
bound, IS centsJs
Reviewed by Carter Brooke Jones
Reviewed by Carter Brooke Jones

perhaps, find out and turn
them in. For there are always
those who guard their in
tegrity however helplessly;
there were in Hitler's Ger
many and there are in Russia.
The government in this
story and most Of its subjects
fear ideas above everything.
The Bible. Shakespeare and
Marx are equally dreaded.
Most people go about in febrile
search of excitement, with
commercials and prescribed
entertainment blaring in their
ears or dancing before their
eyes day and night. They drive
their cars 10 miles an hour.
Many die needlessly, but no
one cares much-life has be-
come cheap. There are atomic
wars now and then and cities
are wiped out, but no one
cares much because no one
thinks.
Discourooing View
A depressing picture, but not
too far-fetched.
Mr.. Bradbury is known as
a writer of science fiction, but
this story does not belong in
that category. There are some
startling inventions, like the
mechanical bloodhound that
can trail people from their
scents, but these are mostly
improvements on devices we
already have. The conflict and
drama in the narrative come
from the revolt of Montag, q
fireman, who has Snitched an
occasional book from q burn
ing ceremony and has met an
ex-professor who lives in Sc
cluSion with a few hidden
books. Montag slowly comes to
realize that he Is unhappy and
to figure out why. The results
of his rebellion bring the story
to q violent climax.
An imaginative writer need
not be judicial in his approach
it is his right to explore a
dangerous path even if there
are other paths open. It can
be argued that mass enter
tainment also can be used to
improve the public taste. This
is possible, and one can hope
it will happen. Radio brought
great orcheStras to millions
who had never heard one, but
even today there are only a
few programs addressed to
people of some intelligence
and an amount of artistic ap-
probation. It is still an open
question. it seems to me, which
way mass entertainment will
swing.
There are two shorter stories
in Mr.. Bradbury's book, un-
usual fantasieS-"The Play
ground" and THE Rock Cried
Out" He writes with extraor-
dinary vividness.
Evening star., 1953-12-13
An Anthology of Famous
American Stories

Edited by Angus Burrell
and Bennett Cert. (Random
House: $2.45. A Modern Lii
brdry GiGnt.J
Certain of these stories
probably would be selected by
every anthologist, such stories
as ''The Legend of Sleepy Hol-
low," 1.-THE Great Stone Face"
and '"The Murders in the Rue
Morgue." The choice of others
is a matter of personal judg-
ment, but, on the whole, the
editors seem to have gathered
a representative and excellent
collection. They have written
an introduction and in back
there are brief biographical
sketches of all the authors.
&C. B. j.
Evening star., 1953-12-13
It's Good to Be Black
win. Doubleday; $780,
BY Ruby Berkley Goodv

1VO0J @O1 zk1SJ NOOUW11Is
The only even mildly con-
tentlouS thing about this story
of a Negro childhood in Illi-
nois is the title. Ruby Berk-
ley. growing up happily amid
the simple pleasures of family
and neighbors in a small min
ing town never had a sense of
insecurity due to her color.
She had a gentle mother, a
wonderful, wise father, plenty
of brothers and sisters to play
with and several inspirational
characters around her. They
Evening star., 1953-12-13

Jury, Wnen
vir t u a ly
e v erybody
i n t h i S
country and
E n g la n d
h a d heard
of the Poet
of tn e ST.
z I I a 3. IL
was not his
poetry that
W a S so re-
n o W n e d,
but the man
himself. He
Evening star., 1953-12-13

VUUEOWUY1 YV.VVsI
had wakes and weddings and
baptiZingS, their faith and
their song. She was ID before
she heard a colored man, who
had killed a white man, say
Black folks amt nothing no.
how; amt born for nothin'
but trouble" Her, father
talked her out of the pain of
that, though.
Mrs. Goodwin's story is
warmhearted and pleasant,
only sometimes marred by
overwriting. M. Meg.
Evening star., 1953-12-13

q SOPPVScu
average Of
i n t e ! ! j.
gence a n d
artistic per-
C e p t i o n.
N o W that
such amuse-
mentS have
b e e n S o
thorough ly
m e c h a i.
nized, their
n1anip VI a.
ton, in one
direction or
another hn.
Evening star., 1953-12-13
Fohrenheit 451

It has become obvious to say
that m ass entertainment
tends to reach a level of medi-
ocrity designed to appeal to
Evening star., 1953-12-13
Splendid Poseur: Joaquin Miller, American Poet
BY M. NJ. Marberry. (Cro,peu. S375J
(Cro,DeH;: $3.75.)

He is little remembered to-
day, but there was a time
around the turn of the CEN
Evening star., 1953-12-13

in 1850, the prize being a solo
show at the Dupont Theater
that same year. She has taught
at Mount Vernon Seminary for
three years, and at the Amer
lean University this past sum-
mer. Before coming to Wash.
ington, she held two successive
scholarships for non-objective
painting at the Guggenheim
Museum. New York City, and
is represented in their collec.
ton.
Jewish Artists .
The Arlington Fairfax Jew
ish Center, 1920 Lee boulevard,
Arlington, opened last Sunday
an exhibition of oil paintings
by "a Jewish artists. Assem-
bled by the Congress Of Jewish
Culture, New York City, it
is currently touring COM
munity centers and synagogues
throughout the United States.
The show will remain through
December, open to the public
weekdays from $50 to 5.
The art exhibition repre-
sents many well-known jew
ish-American artists, including
such nationally known names
as Theresa F. Bernstein, Henry
Botkin, Harry Herring, Frank
KleinholZ, Clara Klinghoffer,
Sigmund Menkes, William
Meyerowitz, Saul Raskin,
Emanuel Romano, Anatol
Shulkin, Naum Tschacbassov
and Abraham Walkowitz, all
of whom have previously ex-
hibited in Washington in one
man or group exhibitions.
Workshop Center
An auction of paintings for
the benefit of the Workshop
Center of the Arts is to be held
at 3 pm. today at 1900 New
Hampshire avenue NV. More
than so Washington and New
York artists have contributed
work to the benefit auction.
The paintings include works
by De Kooning, Malta, Porti-
mari, Robert Gates, Pietro
Lazzari, Leonard Maurer.
Sponsors of the auction in
clude Mrs. Samuel Spencer.
Jacques Leger, Mrs. Dean
Acheson, Mrs. H. Gates Lloyd.
Evening star., 1953-12-13
Noted Book Critic Samples British
NoveIists in One-VoIume Anthology
Great EnqIish Short Novels

Edited and with an introduction by Cyril Connolly Da1 $6J
Evening star., 1953-10-02
INotobIes sExpectedtoA Attend
Benefit Barbecue on Sunday

A number of guests from the
Capitals official circles are ex-
pected to attend the annual bar
becue benefit sponsored by the
Women'S Auxiliary of the Metro
politan Police Boys Club on
Sunday.
The barbecue, to be held on
the 30-acre Virginia estate of
Mr.. and Mrs. Joseph L. Arnold,
near Falls Church. will be held
rain or shine, because the club
house has been enlarged to ac-
commodate a large number of
guests.
The benefit is scheduled from
2 to 6 pm.
The mouth-watering menu
will include barbecued spare ribs
or chicken from five charcoal
burning grills, with rolls, potato
chips, tomatoes, donuts and cof-
fee. Pretzels. punch and cookies
will be ION the auxiliary"
Musical entertainment will be
furnished by the 9O-piece Metro
politan Police Boys Club band,
and baseball fans will be able
to hear the World Series game,
if one is played, on Sunday.
On the grounds will be parking
facilities for more than 1000
cars which will be carefully
parked by attendants.
Guests from the diplomatic
corps expected to attend are the
Cuban Ambassador and Sonora
de Concheso, Ambassador Jac-
ques Leger of Haiti, the Colom-
bian Ambassador, DR.. Don Ed
uardo uleta-Angel, and his
daughters, Margarita and Teresa: :
the Spanish Ambassador and
Sonora de Lequerica, the Peru
Wan Ambassador and Sonora
de Berckemeyer, and the Hon.
duran Ambassador and Sonora
de Vale.