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··. A new prize novel contest has been announced by HoughtOn Mifflin Co. ilillllllil.......--1111 and the American Legion Monthly. It is for the best novel dealing with the period of the World War and the ----~.-...----------Ill prize is the generous sum of $25,000. An advertr3ement for one of the ftourishing new book c:lubs has persistently used the phrase, "Gives -YQU Telephone your books when the Insiders are get- . ting theirs." We have been consumed with a desire to ask the question, .. Inside of what?" And do you suppose they are forcibly detained there? Gieat' Sliort Stories of tht . l Mrs. Merrill N ···· ook Corner 3 Superlative Book1 ~!-.....................--.~~.............~+--------of Ficlio· _.for Year flying, always in motion, ~verybody running to hop aboard. It r3 a g.ood idea. It gives, too, the ton~ of h~ht raillery without bitterness w1th ~~lch he discusses the aspects of Amencan life from secret societies of which one':. third of us are member~. to the perils of the younger generation. Here is an example of his-- styl~ ..Jhe calendar ha'3 picked up W~eks. When Go to Church Week ends, Appl~ Week begins; when Apple Week IS oyer, Safety Week begms. The consc1en· tious citizen has _ his . hands full. Beethoven Week follQws on ~he heels of Brush Your Teeth Week, and when everybody's books are balanced at the end of Thrift \Veek it is time to Plant a Tree." Mr. Merz has of .course a theory of explanation for everything, that h the purpQse of the book, and if we do not agree with him we find ourselves stimulated to think for ourselves, which is better. If we do not agree that America goes abroad every summer in order to convert Europe to American ways and customs we ask ourselve~ why they do go~ and put it down to the newly awakened pa·3sion for education, or the curiosity of a provincial nation which has just wakened to the possibility of another yard to play in. In any case perhaps we have had a thought which in the midst of the fanfare of trumpets and tht> pace of the band-wagon is rare. so rare. I W«<CI A c:ollection of complete short stories, chosen from the literature of all periods and countries. 177 stories; 1,066 pages. Btlit~ · bf &mtt H. Cl·lt a -Jit.im U.bu Robtrt MtBtide 8 Co. · .·· Ss.oo AS WEARE "THE AMERICAN BAND-WAGON" By Claarlee Men The Jolaa Day Co. .Great Short Novels of the World A ,;mi,., coll«lion. ftlitfll by S.mt H. Ct.rlc Robrrt McBride 8 Co···.. Ss.oo Danton, 1759-1794 A study of one of the leaders of the French Revolution.· Mr. Belloc:'s desc:ription of Danton's character, aims and career is presented with his accustomed literary charm and dramatic touch. G. P. Putman's Sons ···.·· Ss.oo Wings of Song _ The fascinating story of the greatest of all tenors, by his wife and her sister. Illustrated .with photographs and sketches. Torrmct Go4dt~rtl Minton Balch 8 Co.······ $}.50 To write about America is a large undertaking, one that is, to be sure, often undertaken, usually by our tourists. To write about it penetratingly, originally, and without venom, is something whirl( is rarely achieved. I believe -<:liarle3 Merz, not a tourist but one of us, in "The Great American Band-Wagon" has achieved it. As a sub-title this book is called ··A Study of ExaggeratiQns," a good title, since we have a recognized gen· ius' in this country for carrying things to extremes. If a little is good it i.; the obvious conclusion · that a lot is better. So we go in for movies, milk shakes, big · business, golf, channel swimmers, and aviators, with a thoroughness which could only belong to youth and its enthusiasms. Mr. Merz likens America to a great band-wagon, bands playing, pennants To the mind of Mrs. Anthony French Merrill, ··the Bri<!ge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wtlder stands supreme among the books of the year. This book, Willa ~the~;s "Death Comes for the Afc:h~!shop, an~ Ernest Hemingway s Men W1thout Women," have been ·singled out by authorities whose cho1ce she respects as the three superlative ~orks of fiction which an unmuaUy rtch year has produced. Wilbur Daniel Steele's ".Meat" she holds "abnormal, repulsive, morbid-and exaggerated - inexcusable." R u t h Suckow's "The Bonney Family," she rates "notable, vivid, true and amus·ng." Claire Ambler, in her opiniC?,n ·s "Booth Tarkington's cleverest ; Brand Whitlock's "Transplanted" "a story well-told, vivid and interesting ; Susan Ertz' "Now East Now West" "very clever and notable" ; Louis Bromfield's "A Good Woman" not worth regarding seriously-overdrawn, exaggerated, inartistic: and morbidly melodramatic, a "commen:ial exag~eration" like .. Elmer Gantry." "Jalna," the Atlantic: prize novel, she holds disappointing except for a wonderfully drawn setting-"unpurposeful, unimportant and insignificant." "BLACK MAJESTY" By John W. Vandercook Harper It Brothers "Black Majesty" is a book so beautifully bound and colored, with such fascinating illustrations by Mahlon Blaine. that it impresses one at the first glimpse of a play of which Robert Edmond jones or .one of his like has made the ·.;cene itself sufficient reason for its being. Then John W. Vandercook in the person of the author and that amazing · galaxy of negroes of Haiti of a hundred and more ~ears ago, as the actors. quite satisfyingly fulfill their parts in the drama. Mr. Vandercook who is by profes~ion a journalist and ~n anthropolof:dst has for some time been greatly inter- Domtbv c.,.,., . , MARCH· PUBLICA1J'JONS During the cour.se of the month Harcourt, Brace and company will publish the foUowing books : u'fhe Wild Body," by Wyndham Lewis; "Burning Bush," by Louis Untermeyer; "Imperialism and Civilization," by Leonard Woolf ; .. Shipmates," by Felix Riesenberg; ..The Glorious Company of the ·Apostles," by Tracy D. Mygatt and Frances Witherspoon; "'fhe Story of the Ten Commandments," by Conrad Henry Moehlman ; and 14 Scenario and Screen," by Frances Taylor Patterson. AUTHOR · TO SAIL in April Katherine Mayo, ~uthor of .. Mother India," will leave the United States for a short trip abroad. Her itinerary includes England, Gen1tany, and Switzerland. Early Ofluge A novel of the future, describing the struggles of the whole world for existence after a flood. S. Fowler W tight Cosmopolitan ········... $2.50 Mr. Hodge and Mr. Hazard An interlude in the life of a poet who for .20 years had adventured in the cause of liberty. This fragment of life ·...· is possessed of a delicate and rare perfection. It will delight those who love fine writing. · ·. Blinor Wfilii Alfred A. Kaopf ········· $2. so Clear up bloodshot eyes ·quickly and safely Wheu eyes becom~ blood shot from wind. dust, over-use. crying or lack of "sleep, apply a few drops ~f harmless }.1urine. Soon they will be clear again · and will feel refreshed and vigorous. ' Utber and Igraine ' An historical romance by the author of Kitty, and Sorrell and Son. lVerwiclc IJHping Alfred A. Knopf ····.··· S3.oo Peasants IC.onfflll &rcouici l4~· ~~-eovici. has. . written, in tbas new book, his latest and best tales of gypsies and pic.. turesque Roumanian peasants. Doabltclay, Doran 8 Co·· , $2.50 Contract Bridgt "" llilton C. W«lc Wi111to· ··············· St. so Many persons use Murine each night and morning to keep their eyes always clear and bright. A month's supply of this long· ~ trusted lotion costs but 6oc. I e'3ted in the negro, and has visited every negro republic on the face of the globe. In Haiti where he spent many months he found this amazing figure of Henry Christophe, born a slave on a sugar plantation, died an Emperor, the only man who at one time had defeated Napoleon in war. The author has treated his subject with restraint, Jetting the glamour and the romance of the story itself guide his pen. Not succumbing to the popular temptation of mixing fact and fiction he has "added nothing to the sparse records of old books · and the fading memories that linger in the minds of men in his own country." The molt eomplete bool& The result is a record of almost superhuman achievement, a- story of 1tock on the North Sbor· adventure more thrilling and more terrible than the mind of one author could conceive. And when .,A shot r~v~rberated, follow~d by sudden ~lllllllllllllllllllliJIHUIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~III~IIIIIIIT........, quiet. The King was dead. He had put a golden bullet, molded long. ago. ~ FrOID a T ailoe- Slaop to tlae i -through his brain," we know that a § Wlaite H0111e ~ man of flesh and blood is dead~ CHANDLER'S /or BOOKS Bridge Pointers and T tats lliltoo C. lVorlc Wi111t0· ··············· St.oo ,_ ,,.. ,,. .,, o.;, ,,,., Doot LOitD'S-BOOD IJRINL r.o·You· EYEs PleWa. aad Patriot . ~ = ·= ~By· Robert W. W-toa ,~ § ~ ~ ~ = Here is the portrait of a presi: = 5 dent who was misunderstood by ~ ~ -the American people, misjudged ~ ~ by historians. A fascinating ~ ~ · study. Illus. SUI Andrew Johnson I THE VOle& OP THE SEVEN· SPAIUWWS· 117 H. 11 z\· ·Lelir "Daughter of a well-known publisher missing." A timelY and up-to-date mystery in which newspaper reporters and a weird Chinaman bec:ome involved. . . i Heary Holt A Co. N. Y. C. ! ! flllllniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIINinRIIIIIIieilfllllllllll· .,-::_ E. P. DllltGa a c... ·· 1t