Books and Authors "MODERN MEN AND MU"MERS" information on Frank Harris, one will- By Hesketh Pearson do well to consult this book of Pear- (A Ioelew by G. D. E.) son's. Harris is a man fully as much' combated as Heucken, hut he has not After a whole month of exceedingly the latter's grace of wit, and he has dull books I find one so good that it a far greater egotism. From what one makes up for all the bad ones I have ordinarily hears of Harris, one would ever read. It is "Modern Men and say that his egotism is without justifi- Mummers" (Harcourt Brace), hy Hes- cation, but when one looks into his literary achievements during his so- keth Pearson, journ in England, one can hardly es- The author was entirely unknown cape the conclusion that, after all, to me, but his book was, in the main, Harris might be far worse. Harris's so clever that I immediately wrote to pathetic endeavors with the shabby the publishers to find out something old Pearson's magazine, of which he is of him. The/ mistook my inquiry and the editor, are more than anything went into the man's pedigree nearly else the things responsible for the de- as far back as William the Conqueror. rision which he is accorded in Amer- I found out that he was related to ica. The literary bearing of Harris, Darwin, Sir Walter Scott and half the reflected through the unaristocratic other English high lights of the past pages of Pearson's, Harris's egotism century. This was not precisely what of achievement, appearing In this per- I meant. I knew Pearson only vague- odical, take on an atmosphere of un- ly as an Englishman and some sort warranted coxcombery. Hesketh Pear- of an actor. What I was trying to son's book shows the truth of the find out was what else he had done matter. It reveals the pathos of a in a literary way. It seems that he real and sincere artist, his glorious has done nothing at all other than fighting days past, of a man surround- ,Modern Men and Mummers.' ed and nigh overwhelmed with a cheap Well, it is enough. I do not know environment and buried under the when I have so enjoyed a book. There tons of mediocre stuff flooding from are some bad spots in it, of course, American publishing houses, a man some very bad ones. But I shall get who is, at heart, sympathetic and full around to them in a general way later. of a wistful eagerness that he be read The book consists of a series of and appreciated. articles on various men, mostly Eng- But the thing which most delighted lishmen, and mostly gentlemen of the me in "Modern Men and Mummers" stage. was the way in which the author as- Nevertheless, probably the best ar- sailed many of the human demi-gods. ticle in the book is on Frank Harris, He swooped on Horatio Bottomly in an American and a writer-a rare a manner that did my heart good. combination. If one wants some realiHoratio having been disposed of in a couple of pages, Pearson went on and will read Pearson's book with a deal similarly disposed of- the Conrad en- of pleasure. Pearson is not as sound thusiast, H. G. Wells, Hall Caine, and a critic of literature as Mencken, but a half dozen other British bombasters. he seems to know the stage, and the He slit a half dozen or more actors fact that he. is an actor seems in no and producers from esophagus to mid- way to prejudice him. riff, and from midriff to the metatar- He falls down in two or three essays, sals. I read 411 such attacks in glee. most notably in the one on George No more efficient work has been done Bernard Shaw.. Here Hesketh is al- since Mencken's "Prejudices, First most an idolator. He dives into the Series." sea of Shavian maxims and epigrams Pearson is not as noisy as Mencken, and emerges, blowing mouthsful of but his work is none the less deadly, them right and left, insisting that and those who find Mencken a little Shaw is the greatest artist that Eng- too vociferous and blunt, but who, land has seen in a devil of a while. nevertheless, like an agressive writer, Again, Pearson takes up Sir Francis r .11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111mill 11111111111111111111111111111111111llilli m" - with your roommate if so me night you just take him down town and treat him to one of those delicious Ilesimer 's Grilled Steaks OPPOSITE D. U. R. STATION "One a day would make you a football man" - We Have Them! Success "If you want to know whether you are destined to be a success or not, you can easily find out. The test is simple and infallible. Are you able to save money? If not, drop out. You will lose, for-the seed of success is not in you. This statement came from the lips of the late James J. Hill, Empire railroad builder. We believe it is true and worthy of your consideration. You are cordially invited to establish your financial relations early in the semester - AT The Ann Arbor Savings Bank The Finest Draperies, and they are just what you need for your Fra- ternity house party PILBEAM & MARZ 301 N. Main Street RESOURCES - OVER $5,000,000.00