BRIEFER MENTION
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A Book of Burlesques, by H. L. Mencken (12mo, 235 pages; Knopf). Reviewers of Mr. Mencken's work either try to be as clever as he or are stupid in order to show their contempt of his cleverness. He is not contemptible even when he is cheap—and he has not resisted that temptation in this book. A real free-dance without philosophy or piety, but graced with much wit. The epigrams are vile, the concert-programme is excellent, but the best chapter is called vers libre. The great difficulty about this book is that it will not irritate the intelligent and none but this book is that it will not irritate the intelligent and none but the intelligent can be amused by it.
The Ground and Goal of Human Life, by Charles Gray Shaw (12mo, 593 pages; New York University Press), is an ethical polemic against "sociality" and "scientism" by the advocate of a purged and reinvigorated individualism. It is a new attempt to establish "The Ego and Its Place in the World." In the background Professor Shaw presents a rich landscape of literary experience; in the middle distance stalks his thesis; and in the foreground lies a heavy mist of philosophic jargon—obscuring all.
A General Sketch of European Literature Centuries of Romance, by Laurie Magnus (12mo, 411 pages; Dutton), is the first of a trilogy which aims to supply an "outline map" of European literature from the twelfth century to the present. This volume is well informed, well organized, and not badly written; but it is too pedagogically cautious, too eminently accurate, to be, even accidentally, anything more than a reference convenience. The author has accomplished his aim with devastating thoroughness.
A Book of R. L. S., by George E. Brown (illustrated, 12mo, 298 pages; Scribner), raises the question of how long Stevenson will survive segmentation, mutilation for mottoes, and vivisection in calendars, without impairment of his literary vitality. This volume, fortunately, is a dictionary rather than a dissection. Stevenson's stories and essays, his friends and his travels, are listed in alphabetical order, and the interesting data relative to each is set down in concise and entertaining paragraphs. An invaluable handbook for the Stevenson fan.
