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WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1923 ,'%, : A LR © Fh "AN Reading Lamp ERARY GUILE TO THE wiWise YOKS OF THE MONTH ABOUT BOOKS AND THE PEOPLE WHO WRITE THEM Fine Stories--But Why "Prize?" PRIZE STORIES OF 1922" By Society of Arts and Sciences Publisher : Doubleday, Page & Co. $1.90 Reviewed by John V. A. Weaver In the introduction to this year's O. Henry Prize collection, an introduction full of strange remarks, occurs this one, not so strange; "The best yet", (mean- ing the best O. Henry collection yet). This is a true statement. And not only is it the best of the O. Henry collections, but it is a book of excellent short stories, each of which is good reading; a repre- sentative and interesting gathering of tales. So far we go in approval, and we will add that this book is worth anyone's buying. But we have several things to say in disapproval. In the first place, what is the standard by which these "best" stories are chosen? We read the introduction carefully, and we came to the conclusion that the ideal, (which may be all right for. the commit- tee) set up for a basis of judgment, is the typical story put out by O. Henry. Certainly the story which was awarded the first prize, "Snake Doctor", by Irvin Cobb, conforms to the O. Henry tradi- tion, in that it is manifestly artificial, mechanical, with puppets for characters, and with the approved "sting in the tail" --the unforeseen "wallop" of Sidney Porter technique. (Unforeseen unless you have read one or two O. Henry stories.) The sad thing about all this is that the great public, with its usual lack of dis- crimination, is prone to accept these col- lections as really the best short stories of the year, just as it is awed into respect for Mr. O'Brien's factious and conceited denomination, "Best Short Stories of What an ideal to set before America --the technical ideal of a literary 'trick- ster, a writer who was an "artist" in about the same sense as vaudeville per- formers are "artists." O. Henry's stories are always remarkably readable, that is undesirable. But he had a juggling technique, he was a slight- of-hand performer with words, and he never created one character who lived, nor set down one sensation which was spontaneous. And this Committee, (rightly enough we fear) awards prizes clude such a masterpiece--so much bet- ter than anything in the book--as "Old Man Minnick" by Edna Ferber, just because it happens to diverge sharply from the O. Henry path, and be some- thing in the nature of a French "conte"? Why not, indeed, place a premium upon stories which get away from the O. Henry tradition? True, some of the tales in this collec- tion show this difference. Thomas Beer's "Tact" is one of the finest ex- amples. And there are half a dozen others. These were included, however, apparently because there were not enough O. Henry imitations to fill out. For which may Heaven be praised. Oh, well--as we said at the beginning, here is a fine collection, one worth buy- ing and one worth reading. That these stories were the best printed in America last year is something we deny emphat- ically, just as we fail to see how Irvin Cobb's wheezingly mechanical "Snake Doctor" deserved any prize. The Best O. Henryesque stories--very well. Tales from the Russian "THE. GENTLEMAN FROM SAN FRANCISCO" By I. A. Bunin Publisher : Thomas Seltzer $1.50 This group of short stories is trans- lated from the Russian of M. Bunin by S. S. Koteliansky in collaboration with D. H. Lawrence and Leonard Wooff "The Gentleman from San Francisco" is a tale of a self-made American busi- ness man who as a climax to his years of accumulating a fortune makes a tour through Italy with all the magnificence that money can buy. It is a description of the pompousness of wealth and, in the end, its vanity. Perhaps the Russian conception of the American man of af- fairs is not the most pleasant or the most accurate, but the power and force of the writing are tremendous. It is a stirring piece of literature. The three stories which compose the other half of the volume are in the same vein. They are all tragedies, of love, of poverty and of cowardice, and in each of them the reader will find that charm which is typical of the best in Russian literature. Ralph C. Taylor. "BEYOND THE SUNSET" By Arthur D. Dowden-Smith Publisher : Brentano's $1.75 Lovers of stories of Indian warfare days two hundred years ago, when a white man went forth into the wilder- ness beyond the Alleghanies, will find Mr. Howden-Smith's "Beyond the Sun- set" full of romantic interest. Master Omerod, a fur trader who had been exiled from England for adherence to The Pretender, crossed the Atlantic, and in one year found a wife and for- tune in this country. The death of his the "Land of Lost Souls." The story abounds with adventures in- cluding encounters with the Shawnee Scalp Hunters, "Black Robe," the Jesuit Priest, the Squat Bowmen and the Wolf brothers. Josephine Oakes Wheeler. Copyright 1923, Howard H. Seward For General Wear For everyday wear in public, when occasion does not demand some special style, the eye- glass most in favor now is The Rimless Mountings of white or yellow gold make them at- tractivelyinconspict ous. 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Wise jer him I Saspaty, adie a enry s technique. welcomed overnor urnets suggestion ; 2 We object lustily to this Prize award. | that he penetrate the new country boy) ® ® SCE ee Using Central Standard Time Built the Foundns One of the chief advantages of living in a 1 ' : u on the foundation suburb north of Chicago is that one can of Car Owners' use the North Shore Line. Good Will There are so many trains, the service is so fast and dependable, that instead of mak- : ing your plans to suit train times, you BECAUSE this organization re- have only to make your plans and our gards itself as a permanent . : Wel : business here we are investing trains will fit mn nicely. money, time and effort in things ; ! that serve the man who owns an Limited trains leave Winnetka for Milwaukee automobile as well as the man who is in the market to buy one. every hour from 4:47 a. m. to 11:47 p. m. Every Lhe We soln Cor wa Bl Express trains for Waukegan leave Winnetka a crease our obligation to this com- every thirty minutes from 5:10 a. m. to 11:11 : munity. And this establishment p. m., then 12:21 a. m. and 12:51 a. m. grows In size and resources so as to measure fully up to its con- . stantly increasing responsibility. Baggage checked to all points on the line. ' Wills Sainte Claire Dodge Brothers : Automobiles Motor Cars Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee R. R. WERSTED MOTOR CO. nie co 562 Lincoln Ave. Telephone 165 ; WINNETKA : Painting Repairing Storage Supplies Elm Street Station : og *