WINNETKA TALK March 24, 1928 BOOKS Telephone University 1024 Wil. 3700 Rogers Park 1122 Great Short Stories of the World A collection of complete short stories, chosen from the litera- ture of all periods and coun- tries. 177 stories; 1,066 pages. Edited by Barrett H. Clark and Maxim Lieber Robert McBride 8 Co. ....$5.00 Great Short Novels of the World A similar collection, edited by Barrett H. Clark Robert McBride 8 Co. ....$5.00 Danton, 1759-1794 A study of one of the leaders of the French Revolution. Mr. Belloc's description of Danton's character, aims and career is presented with his accustomed literary charm and dramatic touch. G. P. Putman's: Sons... . $5.00 Wings of Song The fascinating story of the greatest of all tenors, by his wife and her sister. Illustrated with photographs and sketches. Dorothy Caruso and Torrance Goddard Minton Balch 8 Co. ...... $3.50 Deluge A novel of the future, describ- ing the struggles of the whole world for existence after a flood. §S. Fowler Wright Cosmopolitan 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 ie is possessed of a delicate and rare perfection. It will de- light those who love fine writing. Elinor Wylie Alfred A. Knopf ......... $2.50 Uther and Igraine An historical romance by the author of Kitty, and Sorrell and Son. Warwick Deeping Alfred A. Knopf Peasants Konrgd Bercovici Mr. Bercovici has written, in this new book, his latest and best tales of gypsies and pic- turesque Roumanian peasants. Doubleday, Doran © Co. . .$2.50 Contract Bridge Milton C. Work Winston Bridge Pointers and Tests Milton C. Work Winston LORD'S--BOOKS Just Inside the West Davis Street Door Esther Gould's Book Corner JUST PARAGRAPHS A new prize novel contest has been announced by Houghton Mifflin. Co. and the American Legion Monthly. It is for the best novel dealing with the period of the World War and the prize is the generous sum of $25,000. An advertisement for one of- the flourishing new book clubs has per- sistently used the phrase, "Gives you 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 sup- pose they are forcibly detained there? AS WE ARE "THE AMERICAN BAND-WAGON" By Charles Merz The John Day Co. To write about America is a large undertaking, one that is, to be sure, often undertaken, usually by our tour- ists. To write about it penetratingly, originally, and without venom, is something which is rarely achieved. ] believe Charles Merz, not a touris* but one of us, in "The Great Ameri- can Band-Wagon" has achieved it. As a sub-title this book is called "A Study of Exaggerations," a good title, since we have a recognized gen ius in this country for carrying things to extremes. If a little is good it is 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 thor- oughness which could only belong to youth and its enthusiasms. Mr. Merz likens America to a great band-wagon, bands playing, pennants Clear up bloodshot eyes quickly and safely When eyes become blood shot from wind, dust, over-use, crying or lack of sleep, apply a few drops of harmless Murine. Soon the) will be clear again and will feel refreshed and vigorous. . 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. URINE "EYES flying, always in motion, everybody running to hop aboard. It is a good idea. It gives, too, the tone of light raillery without bitterness with which he discusses the aspects of American life from secret societies of which one-third of us are members, to the perils of the younger generation. Here is an example of his style: "The cal- endar has picked up Weeks. When Go to Church Week ends, Apple Week begins; when Apple Week is over, Safety Week begins. The conscien- tious citizen has his hands {full Beethoven Week follows on the heels of Brush Your Teeth Week, and when everybody's books are balanced at the end of Thrift Week it is time to Plant a Tree." Mr. Merz has of course a theory of explanation for everything, that is the purpose of the book, and if we do not agree with him we find ourselves stim- ulated to think for ourselves, which is better. If we do not agree that America goes abroad every summer in order to convert Furope to American ways and customs we ask ourselves why they do go, and put it down to the newly awakened passion for edu- cation, or the curiosity of a provin- cial 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 the pace of the band-wagon is rare, so rare. "BLACK MAJESTY" By John W. Vandercook Harper & Brothers "Black Majesty" is a book so beau- tifully bound and colored, with such fascinating illustrations by Mahlon Blaine, that it impresses one at the first glimpse of a play of which Ro- bert Edmond Jones or one of his like has made the scene itself sufficient reason for its being. 'Then John W. Vandercook in the person of the au- thor and that amazing galaxy of ne- groes of Haiti of a hundred and more vears ago, as the actors, quite satis- fyvingly fulfill their parts in the drama. Mr. Vandercook who is by profes- s'on a journalist and an anthropologist has for some time been greatly inter CHANDLER'S for BOOKS The most complete book stock on the North Shore From a Tailor Shop to the White House = Andrew Johnson = Plebian and Patriot By Robert W. Winston Here is the portrait of a presi- dent who was misunderstood by the American people, misjudged by historians. A fascinating study. Illus. $5.00 Henry Holt & Co. N.Y. C. nn Mrs. Merrill Names 3 Superlative Books of Fiction for Year To the mind of Mrs. Anthony French Merrill, "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder stands supreme among the books of the year. This book, Willa Cather's "Death Comes for the Archbishop," and Er- nest Hemingway's "Men Without Women," have been singled out by authorities whose choice she respects as the three superlative works of fic- tion which an unusually rich year has produced. Wilbur Daniel Steele's "Meat" she holds "abnormal, repulsive, morbid and exaggerated -- inexcusable" Ruth Suckow's "The Bonney Family," she rates "notable, vivid, true and amus- ing." Claire Ambler, in her opinion is "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 'commercial exag- geration" like "Elmer Gantry." "Jalna," the Atlantic prize novel, she holds disappointing except for a wonderfully drawn = setting--"unpurposeful, unim- portant and insignificant." AUTHOR TO SAIL Early in April Katherine Mayo, author of "Mother India," will leave the United States for a short trip abroad. Her itinerary includes Eng- land, Germany, and Switzerland. ested 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, letting the glamour and the romance of the story itself guide his pen. Not succumbing to the pop- ular 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 result is a record of almost superhuman achievement, a story of adventure more thrilling and more terrible than the mind of one author could conceive. And when "A shot reverberated, followed by sudden quiet. The King was dead. He had put-a golden bullet, molded long agc through his brain," we know that a man of flesh and blood is dead. RA All the Latest Books Sold and Loaned LULU KING 728 ELM ST., WINNETKA Phone Winn. 1101 THE VOICE OF THE SEVEN SPARROWS By H. Stephen Keeler "Daughter of a well-known pub- lisher missing." A timely and up-to-date. mystery in which newspaper reporters and a weird Chinaman become involved. $2.00 E. P. Dutton & Co., N. Y.