davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

This novel is about a IA
nous American novelist called
Payson Hughes who has won
IL. Nobel Prize. The story
Starts with his funeral after
his spectacular and unex-
planned suicide. We back
track through his life. with
the deceased writer's friend.
Charlie Swanson. a non1lc-
ton writer Of some standing,
planning to do a book on
Hughes. Pays" Hughes per-
sonal life comes to light
through letters and inter-
views which Swanson amasses
with indecent speed immedi-
ately after the funeral.
This method Of exposing a
character post-mortem is not
new, but Mr.. Braider, in his
first novel, has managed 1t
very adroitly.
Pays" is what is known
sometimes as a handful. He
has published seven quite
marvellous novels. He believes
in nothing-@more accurately,
you don't know what he be-
lieves. He is outrageously
candid, often to the point Of
obscenity, in his comments
on other writers and on life
in general. He's q hard
drinker and has been faith
full, in his fashion, to three
women-simultaneouSly.
While much of the story
could be regarded as a satir-
ical commentary on the liter
airy life, particularly Of the
palace guard, the hangers-on
that surround every celebrity,
It never descends Cor ascends,
as the case may be- to ex-
travaganza. The people and
situations are pretty close to
life and are quite plausible.
An exception Is when the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

The Smithsonian Institu-
tons catalogue of travelling
exhibitions for 1958-59, to as
sist museums. university and
college galleries, libraries,
schools and other non-proflt
organizations, offers so shows,
more than half Of them not
previously announced. They
have a wide range: Painting
and sculpture, graphics, ar
chitecture, design and crafts,
and half a dozen other cate
gorieS.
During It's six-year history,
the service, operating with
non-public funds. has ar
ranged 1899 different show
ings of 166 domestic and for
eign exhibitions in 954 public
and private museums and gall
ler1es throughout the United
States, Canada and Hawaii.
More than 80 exhibitions were
also organized for circulation
abroad under auspices of the
U. S. Information Agency.
This year, American Folk
Art" including 70 paintings
and sculptures, was assembled
for the Brussels International
Exposition, with funds pro-
vided by the Department Of
State. The catalogue of ex-
hibitions for the coming sea-
son can be obtained free Of
charge, by writing to Mrs.
John Pope, Smithsonian In
stitution, Washington Is,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
The American Political
Scene in Review

one with the most imagina-
tive program but the party
which can combine diverse
groups.
His last revision left the
Republican Party in a hope
less minority position be-
cause of skillful group COM
bining by the New Deal. But
after theorizing that the
Eisenhower triumphS were
personal victories, DR.. Blink
ley does not venture into
diagnosing the present health
Of the G. o. P.
He similarly fails to delve
deeply into the post-New Deal
condition of the Democrats,
apparently attributing the
1948 win primarily to Mr..
Truman's whistle-Stop cam
paigning.
The pre-1948 portion by
this Ohio Northern Univer-
sity professor remains an ex-
citing insight for the general
reader into American poll
ticking.
ROBERT d NOVAK.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
Our Little War With Spain
Was q Dirty, Nasty Conflict

litzer's New York World. 1t
ended, successfully because
the enemy was more dis
organized and worse led than
we, in the steaming hills Of
Cuba with yellow fever, ma
laria, typhoid and dysentery
claiming more lives than
Spanish bullets. 1t was o
dirty. bloody, nasty war. as
are all wars.
But to the American lead
ers who sought to make the
United States a world power,
it was a splendid little war"
The words are those of John
Hay, once secretary to Abra-
ham Lincoln and a famous
Secretary of State. After only
four months of fighting. Spain
threw in the towel and Cuba,
Puerto Rico. the Philippines
and Guam along with it. Two
Spanish fleets had been de-
stroyed, a once colonial en-
pire had vanished.
Professor Freidel, distin-
guished historian who is also
a very capable writer. has re-
created the Splendid Little
War in an deliberately il
Illustrated. really fascinating
volume. Besides a wealth Of
excellent photos, there are
line drawings by Howard
Chandler Christy. Frederic
Remington and other on-the-
spot artists: there are grip
ping word-pictures by Ste
phen Crane and Richard
Harding Davis. Throughout
the text is the all pervasive
reality Of war-the dirt and
the heat, the suffering and
dying, the laundering and
stupidity. the heroism and
fortitude of all wars, however
splendid"
FRED THERoUX.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
AMERICAN POLITICAL

AMERICAN POLITICAL
PARTIES: THEIR NAT
URAL HISTORY. BY Will
fred E. Binkley. (Knopf;
$5.750
This new edition Of an
American political history
last revised IS years ago dem
onstrates the difficulties faced
by the historian when he
turns to contemporary at
fairs.
A 50-page addition covers
the Truman upset of 1948
and the Eisenhower land
slide of 1852 and 1856, and
DR.. Binkley faithfully retells
the well-known details of
these campaigns without Of
fering much in the way OF
Interpretation.
Particularly disappointing
is his failure to carry his
theory of group combinations
into the present. In analyz-
ing the past, DR.. Binkley
argued that the victorious
party is not necessarily the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

study Of q great literary
master who was also quite
at home in every day life.
Miss Mann writes Of a be-
loved father, who was APP
parently the most kindly and
reasonable of men. He was
happy in his work and in his
family; his old age is the
ideal one pictured by Mac
beth. The last year of his
life, which he faced cheer
fully and with spirit unop-
pressed was marked by a
succession Of honors. His
80th birthday brought every
possible tribute. Miss Mann
marks each little milestone
in her fathers slow, graceful
progress to the end. She
even scrupulouSly includes
the report of the autopsy
performed at q Swiss clinic
in 1858.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

for sculptures in the gallery,
the former with her excellent
animals. the latter with a
lively collection of his
elongated. polychromed SIM
plifled wood figures, a harle-
quin. a knight in armor, .
ballerina and others in con-
siderable variety.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
L'Affuir LoIitu Bursts
Into a Literary Flame

LOLITA, by Vladimir Ma
bokov putnam; So written
in English by an author who
wrote eight novels in Rus
sian and one, "Pnin." in
English, was turned down by
four American publishers. 1t
was published in 1855 (the
English edition. in Paris by
the Olympia Press. The
French government sup
pressed Lolita" but later
allowed 1t to circulate. 1t
now appears in America for
the first time.
Lolita" is a novel in the
form of a memoir by a mid
dle-aged man who calls him
self Humbert Humbert, a
European scholar of mixed
nationality who has come to
live in America. He is a sex
ual deviate who is attracted
only to girls between the
ages of 9 and II and not to
all of them, but to a certain
type he has named "nym-
phets." He is no rapist, but
is willing to seduce any girl
of the type he demands.
A house in New England
where he boards is owned
by an attractive widow with
a "nymphet" daughter. To
be near the daughter he mar
ries the mother. Humbert
contemplates killing his wife
(his second, by the way, but
she saves him the trouble by
getting run over. He then
travels for two years with his
adored Lolita. Is when they
start out. He poses as her
father at the motels where
they stay on their transcon-
tinental motor tours.
Previous Experience
Lolita. 1t turns out. is no
virgin, even at Is. and she
submits to her stepfather,
but indifferently, and in time
their relationship becomes a
curse to both Of them.
though Humbert is obseSSed
with the girl and cannot give
her up. In time, bored with
him, she runs away with
another scholarly, middle
aged man of similar tastes
and later marrieS . youth.
Humbert seeks out the older
man who deprived him Of Lo-
lita and kills him.
Humbert is in jail awaiting
trial for murder when he
writes this document. He spe-
cites that it be withheld from
publication until he and
Lolita are both dead. This
specification has been met.
Humbert has succumbed to q
heart attack: Lolita has died
in childbirth.
Lolita" is noticed at this
length because, with its be-
lated appearance in this
country under the imprint OF
a reputable publisher, 1t
promises to become a literary
cause celebre. 1t has been
denounced and highly praised
Moral NihiliSm
This novel is extremely we'll
written. 1t is aimed at the
more cultivated reader. It's
style probably will battle
others after they've been
through the more sensational
and revolting-early scenes.
The book contains no four
letter vulgaritieS.
But. for all its literary
pretensions and its profusion
Of French phrases, it seems
to me the epitome Of moral
nihilism. I do not pretend to
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
Two at Espresso

WatercolorS by Dorothy
Leef and oils by Marcia Giles
are at The Gallery Coffee
House, 1912 o street. George
town, through September 7.
Mrs. Leef has had solo ex-
hibitions and has partici-
pated extensively in group
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
THE SPLENDID LITTLE

THE SPLENDID LITTLE
WAR. BY Frank Friedel
Atlantic-Little Brown;
S8.50D
In 1898 the United States
had been at peace for over
thirty years. The Army, a
whittled-down establishment
poorly paid, inadequately
equipped and without pres
tige. was simply not prepared
for jungle warfare on a trop-
ical island. The Navy was in
excellent shape, by COMPARE
son, with some fine new bat
tleships to supplement the
monitors still in service from
Civil War days.
The war with Spain began
as a crusade of high nobility,
well promoted by sensational
newspapers led by Hearst's
New York Journal and Pu-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

know the authors attitude
toward H UNI bert (Mr.
Nabokov says in an after
word he disagrees with much
Of Humbert's philosophy,
but the mans confessions are
a plea for the readers
sympathy. If some sympathy
for Humbert were not in
tended, why was the thing
written? There are illusions
to "Annabelle Lee" and to
Poe's own marriage to a
cousin not yet Ia, to Dante
and the child Beatrice, as
justification for loving Adde'S
cent girls. There is humor
in the story, quite a lot, but
it strikes me as something
like the humor Londoners
once found in watching the
antics of the poor patients
in Bedlam. Nor do l find
Humbert a character with
the stature of tragedy.
Overpraised
Lolita" has been absurdly
overpraised. A critic for a
leftwing liberal magazine
called it "in many ways the
most remarkable-and GER
tainly the most original
novel written in English
during recent years"
1t is true that the liaison
between Lolita and Humbert
does not prosper. How could
it long? But the narrative
still seems to me, whatever
lesson you could read into
its ending. an ode to lust.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
ART.NEWS
SpecioI
Exhibit
AtMort
BY FLORENCE BERGMAN
Star Art Critic


The Artists Mart. 1861
Wisconsin avenue, George
town. has been reorganizing
its inventory, and has ceased
until after September Is, to
accept new offerings for Jury
ing. Nevertheless, it has q
group show Of some new work
and some from its regular
stock. which looks well on the
first floor, as the works have
more space. Four galleries on
the second floor are also
filled with paintings and
sculptures.
The Mart offers a wide
range from traditional to
abstract. which seems to be
a wiser course than some
galleries rigid adherence to
a diet of all conservative or
all avant garde. The Mart's
major problem. in my opin-
ion. is presentation. There
is definite proof. resulting
from tests, that the public
looks at works in inverse
ratio to the number within
eye range. The Mart ought to
forbid visitors climbing the
stairs, unless they show spe-
cial interest in some artist or
type of work.
Summer Charm
At any rate. the downstairs
galleries are devoted to
changing exhibitions, and
the sculpture display in the
Mart's garden adds to the
latter's charm these summer
days. Urban scenes I liked
in the current show are
Nancy Hersch's golden and
gray Churches; Noche
Crisis light, gay Paris street
scene, place st. German des
Pres" with nuns and chill
dren; and Theodore Kane's
panorama of Lisbon. Good
landscapes and water scenes:
william Walters Boat Up
for r epairs";; Katherine
Claude'S strong Ocean
Island; two captures Of
Great Falls, one abstract by
Samuel Bookatz, the other
simplified, naturalistic, by
Philip Bell; and Kathleen
Bruskin's semi-abStract
Floating Bridge" with its
luminous colors. Figures are
few: Gustav Trois' "Bene-
diction," an elongated saint,
is prominent. and Juichi
Kamikawa has a portfolio
full of ink and wash figure
studies.
There is a large assortment
Of abstract expressioniSt and
other abstract paintings. I
liked best Feller's colorful
Oriental Carnival" and
Millicent Tompkins' little
rectilinear composition.
Katherine Hobbs and
Robert Kuhn carry of honors
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
Thomas Munn

In THE LAST YEAR OF
THOMAS MANN" by his
daughter Erika Mann Far
rar. Straus and Cudahy:
$3.50. we have q reverent.
meticulous, rather formal
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

thrilling discovery. They are
compared to the famous wall
decorations of the early
Egyptians and the Atlanta
cave paintings in India.
The superb plates in
USSR: EARLY RUSSIAN
ICONS are by themselves SUI
ficient reason to acquire this
handsome volume. 1t is the
only one in the series whose
texts incorporate bits of ideol-
ogy, which must apparently
be dragged into every facet OF
Russian life, even if no more
appropriate than fried oys-
tiers in a dish of ice cream.
The one-page preface by
Igor Grabar, Peoples painter
Of the USSR," says that
Russian icons reflect So
cial phenomena and histor-
ical events-the sufferfngs
and exploits Of the people in
their struggle for nationalin-
dependence" Most Of us, no
doubt, had the impression
that religious symbolism was
the absolute essential of these
paintings Of the 18th to 14th
centuries. Farther along, Mr..
Grabar says:
Free Appreciation
After the Great october
Socialist Revolution Capitals
his) the icon painting of early
Russia was freed from its
purely liturgical use; 1t was
assembled in museums, sub
jected to a careful process of
restoration, and thoroughly
studied" by escaping
from the narrow framework
of religion. and by ceasing to
be an instrument for the rul-
ing of consciences, icons have
for the first time become the
object of free esthetic ap-
. probation"
Despite these interpola-
tons, Mr.. Grabar, Otto De-
mus. who writes of the By
zantine origin of the icon and
its Russian evolution, and
Victor Lasareff, who discusses
the icon as an esthetic OBJ
ject, historic schools and
centers of icon-painting, in
dividual artists. and the
plates. are authorities on the
subject, and present it with
pride.
incidentally, Mr.. Demus,
president Of the Austrian
Monuments and Fine Arts
Service, lectured at the Ma
tional Gallery last winter on
Byzantine painting.
Only in the last half CEN
fury have scientific methods
recaptured the original
beauty of these icons; few of
the restored paintings have
been exhibited outside Of
Russia. which increases the
Importance of this book in
offering works which in the
original, can be seen by so
few art lovers.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
"A Top-FIieht Author
And His Honeers-on
By CARTER BROOKE JONES
star Book Critic

In these days when naturastc writing. with its In
coherent and articuate victims Of society still persists
pleasure encounter novel with Of some in
teeca stature who and do themselves Such
q novel is:
THE PALACE GUARD. by Donald Braider viking; $3.50
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
READING AND WRITING
TheWeek S Snapshots
Of Genius at Home
BY MARY McGRORY
Star stan Writer

In season which has brought than its share Of
snapshots genius at home, it perhaps well to bear in
mind quotation from Ernest Hemingway.
Said the Old Man in interview published in the most
recent issue of the Review Great poets not
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

matte incident to the last
drop.
Because she writes more
of her relationships with
these men rather than of
the men themselves, there is
little here to halt the biog-
rapher overlong. One mo-
ment from her life with
Mailer will suffice to show
that genius can sometimes
show a woeful lack of COM
mon humanity. While she
was giving birth to their
first child, the great COM
poser sought to distract her
from her pains by reading
aloud from the works of
Emmanuel Kant.
Nine. Werfel was a veri-
table Valkyrie. One wishes
for a little more form and
just a hint of humor. Her
extraordinary account has a
touch of True Confessions"
and a touch of Wagner, too.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
Art Book Reviews

U. S. s. r. EARLY RUS
SIAN ICONS; MEXICO;
PRE- HISPANIC PAINT
INGS. Volumes 9 and 10
of Unesco World Art Series.
New York Graphic So
ciety; $18 each).
These latest volumes In
UneSco's series devoted to
outstanding art achievements
Of countries throughout the
world, continue the repro
duction Of masterpieces with
a fidelity that I have not
seen surpassed. The books
conform to earlier volumes,
which have been reviewed in
these columns at intervals
since 1854. when the publish
ing venture was Jointly
launched by Unesco and New
York Graphic Society. The
books are large, pages 1917
by Is inches, and each con-
tainS 80 color plates, mostly
l5'by IL inches, and a number
Of black and white illustra-
tons in the introduction.
The text Of MEXICO:
PRE-HISPANIC PAINTINGS
is Accordingly interesting in
its panoramic presentation of
prehistoric settlement Of the
Western Hemisphere during
many centuries, and tn
tremendous achievement Of
nomadic tribes from Asia
and Oceania who arrived
in a state of complete desti-
tuition" and were forced to
re-invent everything from
scratch"
Sweeping Preface
Jacques Soustelle's preface.
which sweeps the reader
along with its clarity and
enthusiasm. begins with the
arrival on this continent of
the American Indians"
twenty to twenty-five thou
sand years ago. describes
the civilization they created.
their crafts and architecture,
and finally their plastic arts,
so tragically ended by those
magnificent blackguards,"
the Spanish conquerors.
Mexican authority DR.. Ig-
nacio Bernal devotes the in
PRODUCTION to painting, pri-
marily fresco, which began In
Mexico about the middle of
the first millennium BIC. He
describes the paintings Of
the Magyar. Toltec and Aztec
civilizations, with special at
tention to those at Bonam-
pax. dating from the 4th to
the 10th centuries. AID, the
most important veStige of
Mayan painting yet dis
covered. a little over a decade
ago. Two-thirds Of the plates
reproduce details Of these.
and constitute the first pres
entation In color Of this
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
NEW OPENING

THIRD BIENNIAL EXHIBITION OF
CREATIVE CRAFTS, sponsored by
Ceramic Guild Of Bethesda. Cherry
Tree DESIGNERS Clay Pigeons {
Kensington, Designer Weavers, and
The Kiln Club OF Washington. Nat
ural History Building, Constitution
avenue at Tenth street NV. n, Il
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. %.
ORIGINAL PRINTS FOR CHILDREN.
FA Galleries, 1928 Connecticut ave-
nue. NV. Tomorrow-Septembe
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24

eSSarily girl guides nor scout
masters nor splendid inf1u-
ences on youth"
We mention it only because
in some discussions of PART
OF A LONG STORY, Agnes
Bottoms remembrance of her
life with Eugene O'Neill,
there seemed to be some
disenchantment registered at
the discovery that the great
playwright was often sodden,
scowling and strenuously SOL
itary around the house.
1t seems necessary for the
reader who does not possess
Hemingway's stole philosophy
toward the artist to remem-
Der that many men are
equally difficult. and without
the excuse of genius to make
them worthwhile.
OF the several gifted gen.
tlemen studied in this weeks
collection of intimate por-
traits, only Thomas Mann.
seen by his daughter, energies
as a considerable human be-
ing as well as a great writer.
Alma WerfeI
To take the author who
knows the most the best, we
must turn to Alma Mailer
Werfel, who in AND THE
BRIDGE Is LOVE liar
. court, Brace; $3.50 recounts
her marriages and affairs
with a whole series Of great
men. Nine. Werfel was a
collector Of geniuseS, one
might say.
Her Geniuses
At % she married Com
poser Gustav Mailer; upon
his death she became the
mistress of the Artist OSkar
Kokoschka; later she married
Architect Walter Gropius;
while his wife she met and
fell in love with Novelist
Franz Werfel, whom she
married at so after 10-year
liaison.
A passage from this Wen
nese beauty's dairy gives a
good idea Of her philosophy
and incidentally her rather
turgid prose style:
What do you earth-bound
moronS know of the vast hap
pinesses I derive from my
imagination, in the intoxica-
tons Of love, of music. of
wine-ano of my strong re-
ligious feelings underneath?
With iron claws 1 claw my
way up to my nest. Any
genius is the right straw for
me to clutch at, the right
prey to feather my nest"
A Magical Woman
Nine. Werfel had a mu-
steal gift herself, and she
certainly had a prima donna's
temperament. That is to say,
her ego, reinforced by many
amorous encounters. fully re-
corded. was equal to those of
the ones she loved. Werfel said
she was "a magical woman, "
but this quality does not come
through on these crowded,
untidy, self-centered pages.
The tempestuous Nine.
Werfel certainly spent little
time worrying about what
the neighbors would think.
She drained every melodra-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
AUTHORS WANTED
BY n. Y. PUBLISHER

New York, N. Y.-One OF the nation
snstS oSoK ef 1esEng BOOK
non-fiction, poetry. Special attention
TO new writer's. For more information
send for booklet VISITS free VANTAGE
Press, 1910 Vermont Ave. NV Wash
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-24
james Joyce

OUR FRIEND. JAMES
JOYCE" by Mary and Pa
draic Colum, is by contrast
a measured, temperate &C
count of the great Irish
writer who lived a life of
bourgeois correctness. The
two eminent critics knew
him from the time he was
g poor and poSturing youth
in Dublin until the days in
Paris when he was the CEN
ter Of an adoring circle, and
operating as Hemingway
said, like q general of the
Jesuits."
In some ways" writes
Mary Colum, Joyce could be
difficult and even intoler-
able" But the columns both
treasured him, as a writer
and as a man. They loved
his wife. Nora. who like their
son and daughter, never read
anything Joyce wrote.
ScrupulOusly Moral
In alternating chapters,
the columns tell of the Dublin
background they both know
so well. In that most oral"
of European cities, Joyce was
a bit of a rounder. But once
he had met and married Nora
Barnacle, they agree "he was
scrupulously moral and ethi-
cally above reproach." He
loved to drink and to sing.
He fancied himself, as Irish
men often do, prosecuted. He
worried over his mentally i'll
daughter Lucia and re-
preached himself for any
part he might have played
in her nervous collapse.
The Colums' account lacks
the intense and intimate
quality Of Stanislaus Joyce's
story Of his brother. 1t does
not change materially Joyce's
self-portraits in his books
nor those written into his
drab letters, which are full
of business details and
schemes. They feel that
Catholicism and Dublin. de-
spite his rejection of both,
left the most fateful imprint
on his mind.