Life, 1914-07-23 · page 35 of 40
Life — July 23, 1914 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This essay satirizes how American literary taste has become shaped by celebrity endorsements rather than merit. The author notes that books now sell based on which prominent figures (Wilson, Roosevelt) are seen reading them, rather than their actual quality. The satire traces literary marketing epochs: romantic "truth," jacket descriptions ("strong and gripping"), brewery-calendar cover girls, and now—worst of all—*political figures' reading choices*. The accompanying mock news-dispatch parodies this absurdity: it depicts Roosevelt returning from the North Pole, where he supposedly read and praised obscure books, which would instantly drive sales. The joke is that by allowing statesmen to dictate literary taste, Americans have abandoned any reasonable standard—creating chaos for the "tired business man" trying to choose what to read. It's a sharp critique of herd mentality and celebrity culture in publishing, suggesting that letting politicians guide reading habits is comically worse than all previous shallow metrics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Saving the Tired Business Man OW that Wilson has been scen to read Brand Whitlock’s book of memoirs and Sam Blythe's novel, “ The Price of Place”; now that Roosevelt is starting a run on Captain Scott's diary ; now that the Baltimore Evening Sun has announced that its picture of Roosevelt reading Booth Tarkington's “Penrod” caused the Baltimore book- shops to sell out their stocks of that book, the careful student of literary matters may observe that America has entered a glorious new epoch of liter- ary standards, For a time novels sold because they were “true to a romantic phase of his- tory”. Then they sold because the jackets announced either that they were (1) strong and gripping, or (2) sweet and tender, or (3) by Hall Caine, The third epoch in our literary annals began when the sales of a book depended upon the approximation of the girl whose head appeared on the jacket to the standard of beauty set for all time by brewery calendars. Recently it seemed somewhat as though we were entering upon a new epoch, in which books would sell upon their merits. But fortunately so chaotic a method of judging books, with its inevitable confusion for the tired business man, has been cut short, and we have entered upon the more reasonable method of choosing our books according to the suggestions of the statesmen, The following is confidently pre- Hygienic, Picnic and Outing Requisite Of for the woods and fields—camping—pic- nicking, of perhaps, just for the auto trip? Be sure to put Ina TAK-A-KUP carton of BALD. WIN FINBACK DRINKING CUPS. With the handy “fin” you're sure of a clean, hygienic drinking cup holding just the right’ amount. TAK-A-KUP carton (self-dispensing), contain- ing 250 Cups, and ready to hang up, 80 cents, postpaid, or stationers can fur- nish them. Sample Cups Free. United States Env. Co. Cup Dept. G, Worcester, Mass. or. Stone & Forsyth Co. Bostoo, Mass, Hupson River By DayLiGHT Fastest and finest river steamers in the world, designed exclusively for daylight passenger service. “Washington Irving” “Robert Fulton” Through rail tickets between New York and Albany, in either direction, are good on this line. Orchestra and restaurant on each steamer. Delightful one-day outings to West Point, Newburgh, or Poughkeepsie. Send 4c, in stamps for summer literature. Hudson River Day Line Desbrosses St. Pier, New York “Hendrick Hudson” “ ‘Albany” sented as a probable news-dispatch of the future: “Landing to-day from his journey of exploration to the North Pole, which he finds to be ten degrees farther E.S.E. than the position as- signed to it in Dr. Cook's most recent book, ‘You're Another’ (Snaggs-Babbington Company, N. Y., $4.00 net), Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, whose ‘Celtic Ceramics’ has just been issued by the Muzzy Publishing Company, at $2.50 net, to- day remarked in an exclusive inter- view given our special representative, J. Wilson Smith (author of ‘Rhi- noceros Rambles’, published by the London Book Supply House at 7/6), ‘Tam glad to be back. Bully! While I have had a pleasant starvation throughout, nothing on it has been of greater pleasure than reading “Dainty Delilah”, by Mrs. Rhom- mey.’ It was noticed by the whole crowd gathered at the dock that the Colonel was somewhat thinner than when he left, and that under his arm he carried the following books—— Ss. 1. Tommy was throwing stones, and his mother caught him at it. “Don't let me catch you throwing stones any more,” she cautioned him. “Well, what will I do when the other fellows throw them at me,” de- manded Tommy. “Just come and tell me.” “Tell you!” he exclaimed. “ Why, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!” —Everybody's. “YE MIGHT AS WELL BEAT IT, JIMMY. THIS UNE SAYS I'M GOIN’ TO MARRY A MIL- BOTTLEDin BOND : A Favont Rye Whiskey ic: iayears | The Governtnent stamp over the cork is a guarantee the whiskey is 4 or more years old Leading wholesalers sll Large Hotels, Clubs and Cafés, too THE LARGE DISTILLING COMPANY | PITTSBURGH, PA, comicbooks.com