Judge, 1928-05-05 · page 25 of 36
Judge — May 5, 1928 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains book reviews and advertising rather than political cartoons. The main satirical content critiques an intellectual "Book-of-the-Month Club" type organization. The unnamed critic mocks how members—described as "the Intelligentsia"—display books as status symbols without truly reading them, suggesting they achieve prestige simply by leaving the book visible. The satire targets prominent intellectuals and editors associated with *The Nation* and *The New Republic* (Carl Van Doren, Joseph Wood Krutch, Elinor Wylie) as hypocritical "radicals" who promote independent thinking yet want everyone reading the same book monthly—thus standardizing rather than liberalizing taste. The implied irony: these champions of individualism are conformity-peddlers. George Babbitt, referenced, was Sinclair Lewis's symbol of shallow conformist materialism, reinforcing this critique.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ture!” You don’t have to read the darn book, gentle reader! Just leave it in a conspicuous place, or hang it around your neck, and you will be stamped as a person of cultivated taste! Shades of George Babbitt! And who are the great thinkers behind this daring organization for the promotion of independent thinking and the de-standardiza- tion of America? Why such rad- icals as Carl Van Doren, Editor of that radical magazine, “The Nation”; Joseph Wood Krutch, another radical and also an Editor of that radical magazine, “The Nation”; Elinor Wylie, the famous novelist, and contributor to another daring radical maga- zine, “The New Republic,” and two or three others rebellious! And they ra mercifully, gentle cause of your standardiz: of living and yet they want you all to read the same book every month! And they guarantee that you will be a person of prestige and distinction if you do! The Intelligentsia! Blah! “Boojum,” by Charles Wert- enbaker is a G—D—#!&$#—!! —H—I—D—m— blankety good book! after reading it, that is the way it should be described, I never read such cursing in my life, and yet, in the story it is perfectly natural, A story of life in a Southern University, and sup- posedly a true tale by a student, it holds your interest intently. If I ever have a son he'll never go to college now! “Parachute,” by Ramon Guthrie is somewhat along the es as “T Me with a just as At least, same Smile.” Another aviator takes a nose dive. The book is well written but there is something the matter with it. It just doesn’t read convincingly. SR A news item says that a boy of five has the brain of a politician. The name of the politician is not given, —Passina Siow “What became of that hired man you got from the city “Aw, he used to be a chauffeur, and one day he crawled under a mule to sce why it wouldn't go.” —Boys’ Lire A home backed by national experience An Ad: American Telephone and Telegraph Tue Bell System is a home town enterprise in operati so that each community may have service that suits its needs. It isa research, engineering and manufac- national enterprise in tureso that every telephone user may have the best that concentration and quantity production can achieve. There are twenty-four operating companies devoting their energies to telephone problems throughout the United States—for example, the Northwestern Bell Telephone Com- pany operating throughout Towa Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dako’ and South Dakota. It has 11 men and women—friends and neigh- bors of the other people in. their towns—working to maintain in its rtiseme town enterprise t of Company the best standards territory i Phony now v known, icar “Telephon Company and the B persons, i rs and cons: ed in inven nd discov ¢ ng better apparatus ng better ways to do th The Northwestern Compa: its 11,000 employees has the use of all that this group of York discover the othertwer ngs. with 0 in New ct. Likewise y-three opera panies. They are re tions adapted to local condi behind every telephonein cityorham- BITTERS GLASS GINGER ALE or SODA With a Tablespoonful a Good Tonic and Palatable Sample of Bitters by mail 25 cts. C.W. ABBOTT & CO. LuWOROu, ROUL-ILLUSTRATION Reyer DarTeaga’ ow you can enjoy a really up-to-date training in this attractive field, full of a radical departure from old fashioned thods | Pre- delightfal, te for free ¢ Word ia paid profession. ilustrated rook Humorous Ilusi The Russell PattersonSchool Michigan Ave. at 20th St., Dept. 3 CHICAGO, ILL, | Baltimore, Md. comicbooks.com