davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
Security Talks
From Meeting at
Georgetown U.

NATIONAL SECURITY. Pc.
litical, military and eco
nomic Strategies in the
decade ahead. Edited by
David M. Abshire and
Richard V. Allen. Intro
duction by Admiral Arleigh
A. Burke. (Praeger; $10J
This formidable, 1000
page volume is a collection
of the papers and a record of
the panel discussions which
featured the January con-
ference here sponsored by the
Center for Strategic Studies
of Georgetown University.
The center appears to have
succeeded admirably in get
ting the widest range of views
among the Nations strategic
thinkers, as the list of "a con-
ference participants bears
witness. The experts range
from Senator Jackson, Henry
Kissinger and Robert
Strausz-Hupe to Walt w.
Rostow, Herman Kahn and
DR.. Edward Teller.
L. EDGAR PRINA.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01

Miss Mccarthy does not con-
slider her duty done, however.
The rake instructs the girl to
go and get herself a
contraceptive. Miss McCar-
thy accompanies her to the
doctors office. She never
flinches. Gentle reader may.
UnlOvely Detail
She probably argues that
such unlovely detail reveals
character and attitude. Any
way, several chapters later,
she is at the bedside of an
other member of the class of
'33, who is trying to nurse
her baby. The child's father
is a clammy- hearted, sched-
ule-mad pediatrician. Miss
Mccarthy. memorable as a
store detective, is around for
the time when the child rebels
in a classic manner. If it were
not for glittering. precise
language, you might feel you
were eavesdropping on the
confidential chat Of harassed
young mothers at their kaffee
klatSch.
1t is hard to know where
Miss McCarthy'S sympathies
lie in the battle of the sexes
which RACES through her
book. She is perhaps just a
war correspondent. The girls
who don't fight at alone is
a happy old maid, another a
radiant LeSbian-fare better
on the whole. There is the
exception of Polly Andrews,
who is guided to felicity by
her father, a mild mental
case, who has escaped the
prevailing Marxist-Freudian
madness of the era. Maybe
Miss Mccarthy is merely
against nationality, of which
she herself is so conspicuous
a practitioner.
MARY McGRORY.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
A New Kind Of Utopia
Quite Unlike u. S. A.

is the result Of people talk
ing together. Bigness is to
be eschewed not only in So
ciety-there are no sympho-
ny orchestras in Sedge, only
chamber ensembles, no auto
mobiles, only tricycles, no Or
ganized and inimical religions
to plague the populace.
Art and literature are kept
strictly conservative. since
the Sedgians know that the
genius viii break his bonds
whether encouraged or stern
ly repressed; great art is
small art. for like nuns in
their narrow cells or like SON.
nets, true artists succeed
best when CONSTRUCTED. In
music, wind instruments are
purposely made with imper-
feet intonation, so that the
player can create beauty with
his lips Il think Mr.. Halle
will find that in our own civil
lization there is no perfectly
in-tune wind instrument ex-
cept the trombone).
In Sedge. the population is
controlled by considering life
to begin not at conception,
nor at birth, but several
months later. at a time I'M
promising children can be
humanely disposed Of to
their own benefit and to that
Of society. Prostitutes, II they
approach their work in the
proper spirit, are not ostra-
cized but honored; children
are educated instead Of being
subjected to vocational train
ing.
Most OF us will agree with
many or most OF Mr.. Halle's
proposals for a more reason
able world, but we wish he
had presented them TO us
with more bite.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01

given up hope, another If he
suspected rescue was on the
way. Or he can become in
fected with his daughters
enthusiasm for Hawthorne's
THE Scarlet Letter" which
he had thought was some
sort of epistle, or he can
talk back to his son who.
though only is, should know
by now he's no match for
his dad:
THE other day when I ate
a peach standing at the curb
my son was ashamed Of me,
and later he said, Honest to
God, Pop, when I see you
acting like a pig. like when
you were eating that peach,
I wish YOU weren't my
father
II said to my son, Well,
now, I don't mind about that
at all. You ought to wish you
had a better father, but this
is the father you have. Be
your own father If you want
a perfect one. A peach isn't
an easy thing to eat, and I
happen to enjoy eating a
peach in the street. You've
got to work swiftly or you'll
lose more Of the Juice than
you ought to lose. Working
swiftly, you have got to be
nothing more than a pig for
a moment, but how long does
it take to eat a peach? You
read D. H. Lawrence's little
poem about the proper way
to eat a fig. Well, it
wasn't a bad little poem, but
the fact is there is only one
way to eat a fig and that's
with your mouth. If the
mouth belittles us, that's too
bad, but whether we eat
daintily or not daintily, we
eat with our mouths, and it
comes to the same thing. You
can repudiate me as your
father any time you like, and
perhaps you should. but don't
forget 1t works both ways,
and / can repudiate you as
my son, too, thus repudiating
my own father, a man I
never knew. And what's the
good of that2 We are all of
us stuck with one another.
We are all we have. Trade
places with me, be my father,
and the situation Is still the
same. 1t has got to happen
sooner or later, in any case
MY son said, You don't
have to take every little thing
I say seriously, do your
Who says I don't?'" an
swers Saroyan.
I suppose that Of all we'll
known men, Saroyan is the
most compulsive gambler
since Dostoevsky, but ap-
parently he gets more fun
out Of it than the Russian
writer ever did. Saroyan is
also obsessed with writing,
but given the choice between
words and the wheel, I think
he would choose the latter.
AS a friend of his, in the
manner that he is q friend of
everybody, we hope his num-
Der always comes up; as a
reader. perhaps we can hope
that he continues having to
make some Of his money with
his typewriter.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
BY HAZEL WILSON
Star Special Writer

Books with girl heroines
are so lively nowadays that
boys should forget their pref
udice against girls books and
sample some of them. For If
a story has child appeal it
should be popular with both
boys and girls.
MIRANDA AND THE CAT.
BY Linell Smith. Oittle,
Brown; $2.750
Miranda, a city child, dis
plays patience, forbearance,
persistence and compassion
before she can coax friend
ship from an alley cat whose
hard life has made him dis
agreeable and suspicious. The
cat is a prickly character a
young reader Of 8 to 10
will come to like. Peggy
Bacon's illustrations nicely fit
the story.
THE DACH UNDS OF
MANA ISLAND. BY Flor
ence v. Mayberry. Double
day; $2.950
Jeanne Marie has not one
pet dog but nine. She loves
them all but favors the lame
one, sometimes at the ex-
pense of its twin. The
Alaskan setting. attractive
illustrations and adequate
Characterization Of dogs and
humans in the story make the
book good reading for ages
up to 10, even though the
author bears down a shade
hard on the moral.
LITTLE RED. BY Roberta
Piper. (Scribner's: $3.250
Most Of anything in the
world Nan wants a pony, so
she Is delighted when her
grandfather buys Little Red
for her at the fair. She finds
that she has a lot to learn
about handling her pony.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
BOOK REVIEWS
7 aIker and Writer:
Saroyan Is Both
BY DAY THORPE
Star Book Critic

NOT DYING: An photographed Interude BY William
Saroyan. Harcourt, Brace & World $4s50
Yesterday was William Saroyans 55th birthday and
young writer from Dublin newspaper looked him up
Paris and asked him to what he owed his longevity Not
dying answered Saroyan authortatvely certainly
all ppantly first because Saroyan nippant and
second because readers of his earlier biographical
know not dying has long been occupation Saroyan
devoted himself to with asSduty
- At any rate he just finishing play and ready to
Jackie book for he Paris with his teen-age
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01

SEDGE: The AnthropOIOgO-
psychological sOciO pO-
IiticO Cultural Complex of
This Remote and Little
Known Country. BY Louis
]. Halle. Frederick A.
O. Praeger; $500
After three years study, on
a foundation grant, of the al
most unknown Utopia called
Sedge, the author publishes
q precis Of his voluminous
many-volume reports short
. account written for the gen.
eral public, shorn Of the tech
nical jargon Of social-science
methodology. His publishers
compare Mr.. Halle's voyage
TO Sedge to the earlier voy-
ages to other Utopias Of Gull
liver and Candide. but 1t is
doubtful that many other
readers will see any resem-
blance.
Mr.. Halle Is SO intent on
expressing himself on the ills
OF our society. that he does
not take the trouble to Gre
ate the necessary framework
of satire by making his ITO
pia sharp, startling, or fan
tastic. Sedge seems TO be a
pretty dull country, different
from ours, 1t Is true, but de-
void Of conflict, enterprise. or
imagination. A native phi
losopher-ruler explains Sedg-
ian theory and practice TO
the research-scholar and,
since he has been TO the
United States, comments on
the strange moreS Of this
country.
Bigness is badness; bu-
reaucracy is evil: a society
should never grow beyond the
size Of q large family, where
every member knows every
other, and where legislation
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
Robinson Crusoe
Looks Puny
FRIENDLY COVE. By

FRIENDLY COVE. BY Irving
Brant. (Bobbs-M Merrill;
$4.75.)
The sea-going adventures
of Rodrigo Alvarez, IS. along
the bleak shores Of Americas
North Pacific are told In this
splendid story by an author
known previously for his
achievements in biography.
Rod, his ship locked in ice
for the winter and himself
almost dead Of Scurvy. is
rescued by friendly Indians.
He makes his way down the
coast by crude canoe and
dugout 1000 miles. his
troubles making those Of
Robinson CruSoe look puny.
Finally he contacts another
trading ship. The time is the
late 18th century when the
nations are squabbling about
territorial and trading rights
and the islands, chiefly
Vancouver Island, were the
home of uncounted thousands
of Indians.
H. A. LYON
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
BIRTHDAYS
HAPPY BIR THDAY
ROUND THE WORLD.
BY Lois s. johnson.
CRand: $3.50

N N Il u II ~ n A ~ IN n
ROUND THE WORLD.
BY Lois s. johnson.
CRand; $3.50
Mrs. johnson was for
many years editor Of the
American Junior Red Cross
News and the American
Red Cross Journal here.
Her interest in all parts Of
the world inspired her to
find out how birthdays are
celebrated in "a countries.
Each chapter devoted to a
country has glimpses Of its
manners and customs. One
thing she finds to be uni
versal, that in all coun-
tries there is affection for
children. American chill
dren will be interested to
know that in Brazil chill
dren sing Tin Portuguese
Happy Birthday TO You"
Other countries have DIFF
ferent songs-some Of them
quite beautiful. This is a
book both interesting and
informative.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
Race Theme
Ofun Angry
Novel
IF WE MUST DIE. BY Ju-
MUS Edwards. Doubleday
& Co.; $3.50

IF WE MUST DIE. BY Ju-
MUS Edwards. Doubleday
& Co.; $3.50
This is only a long short
story but 1t packs enough
bitterness against white SUI
premacy to stand beside
Uncle Toms Cabin" as a
herald Of the wrongs inflict-
ed on the American Negro in
the South.
The macabre story, though
1t has a chilling climax in
the torture Of a young Negro
by three white men, has two
defects. 1t is too one-sided
Gall the Negroes are sympa-
thetic characters and all the
whites are brutish) and the
dialogue is so staccato as to
make the late Gary Cooper
seem garrulous.
No Negro Of stature,
Black Muslims excepted,
would agree that all Cauca-
SLAMS are Neanderthal throw
backs but Mr.. Edwards has
peopled his novella with a
solid cast Of Simon Legrees.
AS to the colloquies, there is
enough dependable duplica-
ton to reduce this work from
its l37-page length to about
100.
The story has two crescen-
dos. Korean veteran Will
Harris returns to his Dixie
home and after much study
of the Constitution, attempts
to register to vote. The in
terrogation by two redneck
registrars and his defeat is
masterfully written along the
lines Of uncounted real-life
incidents In many q South
ern town.
The second climax comes
when three white men kidnap
Will for even attempting to
register and drive into the
country to kill him.
JERRY O'LEARY, Jr.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Of Various Pets and Tall Tales

There is the pleasure Of
sharing her pet with her
friends but finally comes the
realization that she has
grown too big to ride her
pony. This is a warm, under
standing story which could
reconcile a child to outgrow-
ing a beloved pet.
THE ADVENTURES OF
MABEL. BY Harry Thur
ston Peck. New York
Graphic Society; $500
Although this book was
first published in 1896, these
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01

boy and girl, and he needed
money, and knew only two
good ways to make it-by
writing and by gambling
and he had had rotten luck
at roulette, so he couldn't buy
a house he wanted In the
south Of France. But he had
a good title for his book, and
as the event proved he was
in the groove. He got up every
morning early and, eating
fruit on the way, walked to
his favorite bistro for coffee
and cigarettes, and then
came home and wrote at least
six pages. The rest of the
day and night he spent in
the good Paris sun on the
streets or at a race track,
talking with people, mostly
his two children, about all
sorts Of things, predominant
~ his favorite subjects-writ-
ing, gambling, not dying, and
the necessity of putting every
thing, except the past and
the future, into one big, great
book-a Bible, written by a
thousand men, that is not a
museum piece. BY the time
he would wake up the next
morning. ready for his fruit,
coffee and cigarettes, he
would have enough material
for another chapter.
The chapters are good;
somebody wrote Saroyan a
letter asking, perhaps tact
lessly (but I don't think so),
why, when Saroyan was Ca
pable of writing so much
good stuff, did he waste his
time writing so much bad
stuff saroyan couldn't an
swer him directly, but 1t was
a fair question. There are few
first-class writers living who
are able to write anything as
STACEY and insipid as Saro-
vans last book, Boys end
Girls Together" and also
able to produce something
comparable to the easy, in
sinuating, fascinating con-
versation of Saroyan at his
best, talking about a horse
race, or perhaps writing a
letter to God, asking to be
brought up to date on what's
been going on in the world;
specifically, among other
things, what happened to
Harold Watkins, a character
in a 1921 magazine story be-
ginning: THE sun shone
brightly through the window
onto Harold Watkins face"
Saroyan can talk about
anything. One of Hilaire
Belloc'S characters started
out to box the compass, but
he got only about halfway
through before he was hit
with a marlinspike; Saro-
yam is so good he can hold
your interest while he is
giving the name Of every
horse that ran, in the money
or out, In six or seven races,
together with the jockeys
and owners. Or he can re-
mark that questions and an
swers are q good literary
form because everybody likes
to hear questions answered,
and then go on to give ex-
amples of his answers to the
formal question, Have you
anything to say?" a moment
before he is to be electro
cuted-one answer if he had
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
To Be Reviewed

The following books will be re-
viewed on the editorial poss Of
The Stor this week:
MoNDAY-"Ths World and
WiIIiOm WOIker" by Albert z.
Corr. tHoper 6 Row.
WEDNESDAY - They'd Rather
Be Right: Youth and the Conserve
tive Movement" by Edword Coin.
tMoemiIIon,l
FRlDAY-"Mon and the Con-
quest Of the Poles" by Poul-EmiIs
Victor. Simon & SehustsF.l
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01

tall tales about the invinci-
BILE heroine, Mabel, will amuse
children of today just as
much as they did years ago.
The book is ideal for reading
aloud one episode at a time.
The book should have a table
Of contents but its lack does
not detract from the enjoy
ment the reader will have
with this very funny bigger
than-life character.
THE WOLVES OF WILL
LOUGHBY CHASE. BY
Joan Aiken. Doubleday;
$3.50
There are so many sto-
ries for children which are
all sweetness and light that
it is q welcome change to
have one with a wicked,
wicked governess, fierce
wolves and a long-suffering
heroine. Melodrama the story
may be but 1t is wonderfully
exciting, the kind Of a book
most children won't want to
lay down when once begun.
The style is excellent of its
kind, and the book is a skill
full blend Of the real and a
bit more than could happen.
But to children the story
will seem plausible, engross-
ing and sometimes quite fun
ny. For readers from o up.
GOODNESS AND MERCY
JENKINS. BY Blanca
Bradbury. (Washburn;
$3.50
A high-spirited Puritan
lass finds it difficult to con-
form to the strait-laced con-
duct expected OF her by the
Town Fathers. The author
succeeds in making 18th CEN
fury Connecticut seem very
real and 16-year-old Mercy is
spunky and likable. The
reader will Sympathize with
her for so often forgetting
to be submissive.
GIRL ON WITCHES HILL.
BY Mildred Lawrence.
(Harcourt, Brace g. World;
$3.25O
Moving from Florida to
Fox's Cove in New England
seems like moving from the
present to the past TO Stacey
Tilden. How she adjusts to
new surroundings. gains re-
spect for the past and finds
new values makes an absorb
ing story. The characters are
we'll drawn, especially
Stacey's friend oliver.
A LITTLE GIRL AND HER
DOLL. BY Barbara Bren-
ner. (Knopf; $3.50
Sy Katzoff's photographs
of a 6-year-old girl and her
doll which is lost and then
found are very good and tell
the slight story as much as
the brief text. Little girls who
like playing with dolls will
especially enjoy the book.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
Battle of the Sexes:
MoryM'C orthy Referee
THE GROUP. BY Mary Nc,

THE GROUP. BY Mary Nc
earthly. (Harcourt, Brace
g. World; $3.50
Mary McCarthy's new novel
is ostensibly about women
eight Vassar girls pursuing
happiness during the New
Deal. 1t is, inevitably, too,
about the men in their lives.
The company they keep COM
prises a despicable collection
Of lechers, cads, misers, mis-
fits and fat-heads. Any nom
sense about living happily
ever afterwards is early dis
PEELED. Only one of the girls
makes a good match, and she
is propelled into the arms of
a nice doctor by her dotty
old father.
This is Miss McCarthy's
one lapse into romanticism
and a welcome relief from the
crowding cruelty and hapleSs-
ness Of the composite des-
tiny Of the girls. They are
discovered at the wedding of
the first of their group, a
brash, hurting Westerner, to
marry. They reconvene nine
years later at the funeral of
this first bride, who y, I'M
derstandably, a suicide.
Miss McCarthy's alumnae
report is copiouSly detailed,
killingly funny, unblinkingly
observed, and finally battling.
1t could be an indictment of
Vassar education, the Roo
sevelt administration, Freud
ian psychology or simply the
human race. Although the
devastation is almost COM
plete, THE Group" is not a
very clean bomb.
As q StyliSt
Miss Mccarthy remains
more interesting than any Of
her characters. She is an
elegant stylist. as every reader
Of her criticism, art histories
and other fiction well knows.
Nobody spears a status-seeker
with more deadly aim. No
body can chronicle q quarrel
over evaporated-milk versus
cream for the coffee to more
eXcruciating effect. But here
on several occasions, she
succumbs to sheer literal
mindedness. Her objectivity
does not save her from being
Objectionable.
The second and most
notable chapter in the book
is a sex scene that surpasses
anything in the modern novel.
A proper BoStonian is initi-
ated by a cruel rake, and its
graphic, clinical detail Is
worthy Of a medical textbook.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
DRAMA

DRAMA
DEAR ME, THE SKY is
FALLING. BY Leonard
Spigelgass. (Random
House; $3.50 This is the
play that stars Gertrude
Berg and has been a big
hit in New York.
NATURAL AFFECTION. BY
william Inge. (Rand dom
House; $3.50 One Of Mr..
Inge's least successful
plays. 1t was seen here
and, briefly, in New York.
BEYOND THE FRINGE. BY
Alan Bennett, Peter Cook,
Jonathan Miller and Dud-
ley Moore. (Random
House; $3.50 The text
of one of the funniest
shows in years. the Brit
ish quartet's spoofing Of
everything from the n.y.
drogen bomb to Mayfair.
FICTION
WEEKEND GUESTS. From
Were so glad you could
come" to Were so sorry
you have to CO." and vice
versa. Text by William X.
Zinser. Drawings by James
stevenson. (Harper a.
Row; $685. An amusing
view Of the ancient and
subtle duel between host
and visitor.
EAST TO BAGADUCE. BY
Willard Wallace. (Regnery:
$4.50O A novel based on
the actual records Of
Americas first great ma
val disaster. the siege Of
British-held Bagaduce,
Me, by an understaffed
and ill-equipped Revolu-
tionary expeditionary force.
GENERAL
NICKEL. A historical review.
BY F. B. Howard-White.
Wan Nostrand; $685. A
handsome book on the
story Of the development
Of nickel from It's earliest
days.
WELLINGTON'S PENINSU-
LAR VICTORIES. BY Mi
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-01
Tempting Porodoxes
In Suppressed Books
SUPPRESSED BOOKS:

SUPPRESSED BOOKS: A
History Of the COncep-
ton of Literary ObScenity.
BY Alec Craig. with a fore
word by Morris L. Ernst.
world Publishing Co.; So
One of the most hilarious
moments in the history of
American vaudeville occurred
in a skit presented some
years ago by the Howard
brothers, Willie and Eugene.
Audiences used to expire with
delight when the great COM
edy team, pursued by cops,
fled from a graveyard at
midnight, as Willie asked
Eugene, in a sepulchral
stage whisper: DO you think
we can get out of here with
out being obscene?"
The reasons for the sue
cess of this line remain
somewhat obscure except for
the fact that the punch
word-quite apart from be-
ing, in this instance, also a
pun-word - often inspires
mirth.
1t also inspires, or con-
spires to inspire, anger.
Hemingway fans will forgive
me, I trust, If I quote from
the wrong book, but l be-
lieve 1t was in Death in the
Afternoon" that Papa, In a
Jovian rage at censors,
baffled and frustrated the
lot of them with sentences
like What in the obscenity
is that little obscenity doing
with that big obscenity, over
there by the obscenity2"
Please note that Sup
pressed Books" by Alec
Craig. is subtitled "a His
tory of the Conception of
ObScenity." Significantly diff
ferent - isn't it? from "a
History Of Obscenity," which
is not the subtitle. If, on
this evidence alone, 1t should
strike you that Mr.. Craig's
theme might be that OBJ
scenity is, by and large,
merely a dirty idea, or dirty
conception, in some peoples
dirty minds-well, that was
how 1t struck me.
A careful reading con-
firmed this impression.
more in Anger"
Mr.. Craig, identified by his
publishers only as IAN emf
nent British critic" has been
studying, for a quarter of
a century, "the conception
of literary obscenity as found
in law and practice" Lik
Hemingway, he has reacted
more in anger than in sor-
row. Unlike the Howard
brothers, he finds no mirth
in his gamy subject. He is
as grimly single-purposed. in
his crusade against suppress
sors and would-be suppress
sorS Of obScenity, as were
the two grim firebrands who,
years ago, crusaded against
obscenity itSelf-Anthony
ComStock and John s. Sum-
ner. The former Is described
by Mr.. Craig as "a perverted
genius" the latter as IAN
Elisha following in the steps
of his Elijah"
The book is as thorough as
1t Is angry. In his survey of
what he calls some of the
worst abuses for which NOR
ally indignant judges, crusad-
ing officials, and ignorant
magistrates have been re-
sponsible," the author escorts
his reader down a long line of
villains, from the Emperor
Chi Huang II, who ordered
the destruction Of the ANA
lects" of Confucius, to the
Minister of Customs who re-