Judge, 1930-10-25 · page 4 of 36
Judge — October 25, 1930 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Judge Magazine This page is primarily **advertising and book review**, not political satire. The left side features an **Edison Light-O-Matic Radio advertisement** from Thomas A. Edison Inc. (Orange, N.J.), showing an ornate radio cabinet. The ad emphasizes Edison's reputation in science and electricity to sell radios to consumers. The right side contains a book review by "Judging the Books" columnist Ted Shank, critiquing Louis Bromfield's novel "24 Hours." The reviewer praises Bromfield's craftsmanship but dismisses the book as "slightly trashy"—typical nickel-magazine paste. The review compares Bromfield unfavorably to Somerset Maugham, noting Bromfield succeeds where Maugham's "Cakes and Ale" fails at serious literature. This is representative Judge content: advertising mixed with cultural commentary for educated middle-class readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Mr. Lenz saysi- 1 find the Edison Light-0-latic Radio a delightful means of furnishing "back ground” susic during a Bridge Game. gh bny EDISON LIGHT-O-MATIC RADIO FROM THE LABORATORIES OF Q Ediron. It is not merely because Thomas A, Edison is a great name that it means so muchon a radio. It is because Thomas A. Edison is a great name in science .. . in electricity... in sound reproduction — the things that make a radio. Fifty years of achievement in the Edison Labora- tories are back of the Edison... a lifetime of beauty, satisfac- tion and pride of possession in your home are before it. Hear the Edison—the radio voice triumphant! There is a dealer near you, . selected because of his reliability. THE PLEASURE OF OWNING AN EDISON MAY BE YOURS FOR AS LITTLE AS $173 (LESS TUBES), PRICES SLIGHTLY HICHER IN THE FAR WEST. THOMAS A. EDISON, INC., ORANGE, N. J. SUDGIWG“ BOOKS Goxerinxa has happened to Louis “' Bromtield or to us, for it took about fifty pages of his “2+ Hours” to set us Time was, too, when his “Green Bay Tree” and “Annie Spra left a sizeable im pression in our skull but curiously. | that impression and what those books were about have escaped us. Is it that the good Louis’ books go in onc cye and out the other? It strikes us that Master Bromfield is a painstaking, careful workman. He himself admits it. He takes ye to do a book and it shows every sig of loving care in plot, execution, cha acter and other such novelistic knick-* nacks. But what Louis loses in his pursuit of form is what is known ay good, old-fashioned vigor. He chisels and hacks and chips at his theme till he loses the savor of thi to write with guides. He is tirely without genius. + Hours,” what we read of it, is ever so slightly trashy. It has that quality of paste so common to the “deep” stories in the nickel maga zines. (Can our mock Galsworthy have suffered a rush of Woman's Home Companion to his art—and bx writing for money?) It presents a tion of the minds, lives and gaddings of a group of what Brom- ficld probably calls “typical New Yorkers.” We couldn't place them and had the feeling should we ever meet them what about it? Brom- field's observation of these folks thereby became stalemate—it was fair ly sound, but again, what about it? We tried to test whether Louis had again gotten his women cockeyed ladies whisper about he does—but not knowing anything about women, our experiment came to zero. So. we left Louis’ little group of phoneys just as they were busily and broodily work ing themselves into what promised to be a pretty hotsy-totsy criss-cross of love affairs, purposes and which-what, and we turned to a good book, W. Somerset Maugham’s “Cakes and Ale.” Although there is no outward comparison between Maugham and Bromfield, they come under the clas sification of people who put things be tween board covers (known as books) for the purpose of entertaining. Brom field has failed us in this; Maugham has nearly always succeeded. “Cakes and Ale” is a beautifully-told story of the cynical disillusionment that c with middle-age concerning and ordinary human beings. it doesn’t class with Maugh: ics:—"Of Human Bondas e Moon and Sixpence” it will not be forgotten. —Trv Siar He seems charts as a great writer—en- technical Cross-se writers comicbooks.com