New Book Reviews
An illustration by Bill Crawford, for H. L. Mencken’s
"Christmas Story.”
H. L. Mencken Writes a Christmas Story
To End All Other Christmas Stories
CHRISTMAS STORY
By H. L. Mencken. Illustrated by Bill Crawford.
(Knopf; $1.)
Reviewed bv MARY-CARTER RORERTS
Although this little piece was
previously published in the New
Yorker magazine, it seems worthy
of notice now that it has been
issued in book form. Christmas
is approaching and it is, after all,
a Christmas story, even as its
title indicates. It is not, to be
sure, a Christmas story in the
orthodox manner, unless you
concede that the unorthodoxy of
H. L. Mencken has become or
thodox by custom’s sanctifica
tion. Anyway, it is H. L.
Mencken. That should do for
his fans.
It is the sad little tale of the
Christmas dinner given, circa
1900, by Mr. Fred Ammermeyer
for the bums of the city of
Baltimore. Mr. Ammermeyer, an
ardent atheist, was offended on
hearing that the mission dinners
tendered to the city's assorted
outcasts opened with hymn
smging and closed with obliga
tory public confessions by the
guests of misspent lives. He ac
cordingly offered his own variety
Kaleidoscopic
Reminiscences
Of Childhood
TIME LAY ASLEEP
By Carman Barnes. (Harper
& Bros.; $2.50.)
Reviewed by
J. N. HAMILTON.
Miss Barnes’ latest novel is a
somewhat soporific opus of child
hood with an autocratic family
which settled the river country
of Tennessee. It relates the dis
integration tor success) of each
individual through reminiscences
of a child now grown. Possibly
it is because Miss Barnes em
ploys this kaleidoscopic flashback
method in spinning this yarn of
the feminine members of a fam
ily that it tends to become con
fused and jumbled.
Characters weave in and out of
“Time Lay Asleep” without re
gard for time or sDace in dreamv I
sequences. True, these char
acters are destructively pierced
with the needle point of woman
ly insight, but their actions re
main astral. There are, in spots,
keen observations of character
analysis that may titillate maid
enly ladies kept in by rainy after
noons, but the whole thing just
never escapes being slightly ado
lescent. There is little doubt,
after scanning the publisher's
biography on Miss Barnes, that
the novel deals in some measure
with her childhood. They also
slyly mention that Miss Barnes
can write her name in Sanscrit
Just what that has to do with
writing novels we couldn’t dis
cover.
Miss Barnes probably will be
better remembered for her first
novel, “Schoolgirl," written when
she was just 15.
of competition. At his dinner
the meal began at 11 a.m. and
continued until midnight un
broken save by performances of
a burlesque troupe. Beer flowed
and cigars were handed out by
the half dozen. No hymns were
sung and no confessions called
for. A good time was to be had
by all. Such was Mr. Ammer
meyer’s hospitable intention.
But alas, it did not turn out
that way. Virtue raised its re
jected head in the midst of the
revels and the Ammermeyerian
program went glimmering. Mr.
Mencken calls his story the
Christmas story “to surpass,
transcend and put an end to all
other Christmas stories” but it
is hardly that. It is a nice little
piece of rather mild Mencken.
Its illustrations are a lot more
noisy than its text.
KNOWLEDGE
THAT HAS
ENDURED
WITH THE
PYRAMIDS
_
A SEC
FOR THE
OF LIFE
VV7HENCE came the knowledge
that built the Pyramids? Where
did the first builders in the Nile Valley
acquire their astounding wisdom that
started man on his upward climb? Did
their knowledge come from a race now
submerged beneath the sea? From
what concealed source came the wis
dom that produced such characters as
Amenhotep IV, Leonardo da Vinci,
Isaac Newton, and a host of others?
Today it is known that they discov.
ered and used certain Secret Methods
for the development of their inner
power of mind. They truly learned to
master life. This secret art of living
nas ocen preserves ana nanuea aown
throughout the ages and today is ex
tended to those who dare use its pro
found principles to meet and solve the
problems of life in these complex times.
This Sealed Boole — FREE
The Rosicrucians (not a religious
organization) have prepared an un
usual book, which will be sent free to
sincere inquirers, in which the method
of receiving these principles and nat
ural laws is explained. Write today for
your copy of this sealed book. Possibly
it will be the first step whereby
you can accomplish many of
your secret ambitions and the
buildingof personal achieve
ments. Address your inquiry
to: Scribe p J-| Q
The Rosicrucians
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