.W ILMETTE LIFE November 1, 1929 II tUVNfAIN Cornn1ent on Books and Authors . I For the devotees of mystery stones Mr. Osbourne, a · veteran pract~tioner, has compounded an expert tale mclud.ing such always satisfactory ingredients as the disappearing millionaire, the variously identified corpse, the wife with a past, the writer of mysteries who has to solve a real one, the Mexican bandits, etc. (To save disappointment, however, read.ers should be warned that the picture on the jacket has nothing to do with the s.tory.) The action begins on Long Island. then shifts to Catalina, San Diego, Tia J uana, ami Ensenad.a; and if this rouses a suspicion that Mr. Osbourne has lately been to these more M or less foreign parts and wants to cash in on his travel diary, we, who are not so fortunate as to be able to· wander, ran only be grateful for his changing the stage set for each act. I r ,. WARt· t:VANSTON Wilmette J700 Books Fugitive's Return Susan Glaspell, who wrote The Road to the Temple and Brook E:v ans Stokes ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . $2.50 Trousers of Taffeta A novel of the child ·m others of India Margaret Wilson Harper 8 Brothers ........ $2.00 The .Way of Ecben James Branch Cabell McBride ............... $~ . 50 By Mary \Volfe Thompson. Illustrated by Edna Potter. Frederick A. Stokes. Renewed by Lucy Fitch Perkins Author of "The Farm Twins" This is a book filled with charming material. interesting incident, and likeable characters, which yet falls a little short. of its leg'itimate effect because of the ri1ethod of presentation. It is what the children refer to as an "I" book, which means that the story is · told in the first person singular. This has been done successfully in ~ few outstanding instances, as, for example, in "Treasure Island," but in spite of such examples the fact ·remains that this mode of narration places an unnecessary handicap upon otherwise charming and valuable material. Children are very eye-minded as a rule. and the story which most appeals to them is the one which enables them ·most clearly to visualize the characters and incidents. The other personalities in the story are attractively presented, but Lucy herself, who tells the story and who should be quite definitely imaged as the principal character. ts obscured behind the personal pronoun. The storv is so good that one cannot help regretting this flaw, and also the emploYment of certain too colloquial expressions, such as "Grandpa's eves hugged ." In spite these obvious defects the book does present to children an alluring- picture of the interests, actiYities. and charm of country life. MY GRANDPA'S FARM. P.ERIL. By Lloyd Osbourne. Double- WEATHERGOOSE-WOO! By Percy day, Doran. . Wolfe Thompson. . Illustrated hy Edna Potter. Fredenck A. Stokes. Here. ·in sevt:n legends of the south ern mountains, we have a gorgeous arrav of goblins, spells, dark moons, . and ·hants to add richness to our literature. The stories are told in an intense but intelligible, dialect. and Mr. MacKaye's treatment of this earthy mate.rial has transformed it from mere backwoods iargon to the dignity of romantic folk lore. It is no more true to nature than an artist's composition is a natural landscape, but in each case the work becomes art through the conscious process of interpretation. For something has happened to Mr. MacKave. From being a conscientious transcriber of quaint idioms he has, with thi. latest book, entered. that fi~lcl of art that is concerned \\'lth fixmg for all time the poetic- and therefore the esscntfal- truth. Percv MacKave is a dramati. t with an acute sense for vi\'icl scenes unforgctahlv dra\Ytl . \Vhatcver genres this nrsatile author undertake s. the trail of the theater is over them all. Therefore we must accept the c0nclitions of the art. iust as we accept their thrce,,·alled rooms of theater . cenes. without criticizing the architecture. The viYi<l coloring 0f MacKave's folk plan i:; deliberate heightenimr, as k .c dtimat e ri S lighting ·Cff ects on the . tage, and as neccs sarv to the de s ired illusion as the make-up on the actors' faces. . The stories of "\V cathergoose-'Voo !" arc so intcn s clv local a s to have th e qualit~' of uni\'ersalih·. Thev arc ra \\' material of human lore dramaticalhrendered. THE Broadwa-y Interlude Achmed Abduflah and Faith Baldwin Payson ~ Clark, Ltd .... ·.. $2; . 50 What is Mind? Philosophy for . the Layman George T. u'. Patrick The Macmillan Company ... $2.50 Emerson The Wisest American · Phillips Russell Brentano's . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5· oo 'The Man Within Graham Greene Doubleday, Doran ....... $2 . 50 Grandmother Brown' s Hundred Years Harriet Connor Brown Liule Brown 8 ·company .. $J.oo The Mind at Mischief Funk~ William S. Sadler Wagnalls Company, $4 .00 Bushnell Ames. The last booK to be completed by the author before his death in 1928, thi s weird mystery-adventure romance is laid in the wilds of Lower California. Two young prospectors down on th e ir luck. chance upon a dyirig Mexican, mortally stabbed by uuknown assassin s. His exDiring words and gift to them of a large unset emerald have an import which sends the two, joined now bv a grizzled soldier of fortune, off on a tler-- J.'rnm ,(;nfunlal/ R,..rirw of Litrratnre ilous treasure-hunt in the uncharted depths of the Pel1insula. They penetrate .\flniJih Uolm St·hool of the Dance through de sert and jungle into a sinister 6:!4 South l\Jichignn Boulevard valley solitude. to the very brink of :\'OHTII SliOH.E BRANCH their goal, but are then made captive \\' irlllf'tl{n Community JTou~ e Cl:tss t·s ThurHclav froin ·1 to 6 bv a strange savage race of AztecBallt>t, C'hnrncter Dancing· Mongol origin, the forgotten descend- RED PLUME OF THE ROYAL Fl)r ' informntion writ<' or phorre ants of an age long antedating the C hicago Rchool-Harrison 2029 NORTHWEST MOUNTED. Rv Spanish Conquest. F.clward. H. " ' illiams. Harper s. · ~fr. \Villiams 1)\· thi s title contintt s his . erie . of bo~· s' hooks relating the adventures of an American white hm·. Dick \Vebster or Reel Plume, who caped from the Northern Chevennes ncar the Canadiatl border. An -adonted Cheyenne, speaking the Cheyenne tnnguc. and a skillful sc0ut beside:--. Dick now is summoned to he aide and internreter for Serg-eant 1fac1eod of the R~.,·al 'Northwest ).f ountcd Pol:ce in the l~unt for a squawman desperado wlw had crossed the hordt.:-. Disan· pointingly to Dick, in the promising first chapter Di ~... k is shot throu!!h the le~. Thereafter for seven .chapters, the hulk of the hook. he is confined to for qtiarters in a Hudson', Tia:v compatw }'ine craftsmanshiJ) and tiN;ign In gt·nuint· trading post and action is confined also P.lymout.lt ]J('Wt<'t', lnllil"itlual Jlie('(·s, h·a· to f1reside story-telling of epi sodes sd~. bowls. tlitehus. t·orrin..:-e r s, pcpJH'rs lllltl more or less connected. with life in the suits, ca ntlt' lll brtt, a ntl ,.a rio us oth<'r piN'l'S. Canadian Nortln,:est! In the ninth or $1.00 to $25.00 . Jast chapter he has recovered sufficienth· to go with Sergeant 1f acleocl and "get vour man." in accordance ,,·itJl ·the t;aditi0ns of the service. There Elephants as arc four full-page pictures by Charles Durant. Paper Weights J os<;;ph BLADED BARRIER. By of Chandler's GIFT. SHOP 1567 Sherman Ave. ELEPHANTS es- FOR LUCK PEWTER '* GIFTS $1.00 up Elephants as Ash Trays CELEBRATES 70TH BIRTHDAY The Biography of H. R. H. The Prince of Wales W. 8 L. Townsend Macmillan . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2.50 BOOK ENDS In nH·tal, of charming design and decor· a tion. An interesting selection. $2.00 up Elephants as .Interior Decoration $2.50 to $12.00 $2.00 pr. to $18.00 pr. The Mystery Man of Europe Sir Basil Zaharoff Dr. Richard LeuJinsobn Lippincott . . . . . . . . . . . . . S3.oo LORD'S Fint Floor-Ju1t Imide the West DOLLAR GIFTS We have a table devoted entirely to the display .o f gifts and bridge prizes at a dollar. The selection ia moat excellent at an amazingly low price. Davis Street Door According to the Norwegian correspondent of an English paper Knilt Hamsun lived up to his reputation as a hater of publicitv when he celehrat('d his seventieth birthday recently. "To he correct," savs the corr. e spondent. "everyhodv except Knut Hamsun himself celebrated the dav. All new;;papers were filled with portraits of him. of his wife, of his children. and of a 11 the houses in which he hacl lived . Literarv clubs and institutions gave re..: ceptions and sent solemn lette'rs of congratulation to him. And his publisher printed several himnaphic::tl volumes and a collection of his works. Onlv one person was seen nowhere. Knut Hamsun had hirecl a car and '!One to Manda]. a small coastal vill::u!e. Here, among- humhlP · folks, who flid not know him. Knut Hamsun enjoyed his birthday."