Life — January 19, 1922 — page 26: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

CHMED ABDULLAH, purveyor of the exotically terrifying, has abandoned the dark ways of the wily Chinee for the even darker carryings- on of Haussas, Niam-Niams, Touaregs, Fulahs, Kroos, Ticki-Tickis, Gallas, Ashantis and the rest of Africa’s social register. This time he is seri- I Speak of Africa rub-rub-rub-rumbeddy-rub and then banng) whisper the sinister news of “rinderpest striking the long-horned cattle of the Massais ... of a M’pongwe medicine-man brewing dead mysteries” and of a fast-black Master Mind plot- ting to become the Imperial Wizard of an All-African Ku Klux Klan to over- throw the white control. Unfortunately, they also whisper a lot of indigenous names which might have been mace up out of the top row of letters on a ‘ype- writer keyboard. These choice cuts of native dialect stick up throughou: the book like seven-foot fences. ously occupied in proving that the miasmic atmosphere of the dusky continent—all 11,360,000 square miles of it—is consider- ably more loathsome than that of Hollywood, California. Which may or may not be an open ques- tion. But the mean things that Captain Abdullah says about Africa in “Night Drums” (Mc- Cann’s) should be enough to discontinue all Cook's Tours thither until further notice. The native drums (which go Fiction This Man’s World, by Will Lev- ington Comfort (Doubleday, Page & Co.). A vivid and highly colored tale of South Sea intrigue, told with great art and bold strokes. The author manages to keep the thread of the story well in hand, but perhaps he overdoes the expe- dient of leaving off some exciting incident too abruptly, and begin- ning all over on a new trail in the Figures in Popular Literature Just as soon as you are able to take M’yanu M’bi-likini without holding on to the pommel, «long comes Rakaiz al-Utabs and next chapter. This, of course, is a knocks you for a row of sao.tias, Ai! Likewise, gewald! Unless you are terribly wrought up over African intramura! af- fairs, you'll probably fall right off at the first etymological jmp. We fell off several times. ‘ach time we did, our interest did likewise. Henry William Hanemain, It seems to us a pity that the au- thor of this story, with such great talent as he undoubtedly displays, should have so frankly devoted himself to producing a time-killer, something that would sell. There are splendid things in this look, but good Lord, the man_ hasn't labored enough over it, he has tried too much to produce something that he thinks will sell; and it probably will. legitimate and very old method, but it needs care in the management. As to this book’s being somewhat like a Conrad book—which the publishers hint at in their door-mat —well, is it? It is good in a man- ner that Conrad is better at, may- be, but it is very good nevertheless. The Council of Seven, by J. C. Snaith (D. Appleton & Co.). A highly charged story. of British- American intrigue, well done for that sort of thing, but very uncon- vincing. Enter Jerry, by Edwin Meade Robinson (The Macmillan Co.). The author has contrived to pro- duce here a book of genuine charm and humor, and this in spite of the fact that the Booth Tarkington boy-story formula is so old and that the scene is laid in Indiana. Twin Tales, by Arthur Stringer (Bobbs-Merrill Co.). Two re- printed stories 4 la_ satevgpost. Rapid-flowing and shallow. Romance to the Rescue, by Denis Mackail (Houghton Mifflin Co.). The Sheik HE desert chieftain here behold, The Dempsey of the Nile. He knocks the lady readers cold And cramps their husbands’ style. The heroine reels back for more. They play like happy kids,— He tells his love, then knocks her for A row of pyramids. She revels in his gallant deeds; Her passions higher mount Each time he languidly proceeds To drop her for the count. They. marry in the end—they do In all such compositions— And now, no doubt, he'll knock her through Another twelve editions. So if you’d knock the ladies dead, Just use your right and go ahead. Dorothy Parker. The People Against Nancy Pres- ton, by John Moroso (Henry Holt & Co.). A moving detective story of which the following sample sen- tence will perhaps be the best re- view: “The fingers at the throat of the prostrate thing tightened and tightened. They held there until the limbs on the cheap, dirty carpet stiffened.” If you want to be made to feel that something is happening when you read, this tale will scarcely leave you asleej: at the switch. Others The Glands Regulating Person- ality, by Louis Berman, M. D. (The Macmillan Co.), If you wish to form an intimate and shameless acquaintance with the glands— things that hitherto you didn't even suspect that you had—read this book and curl up and pass out. Or else be convinced that you are areal genius. Perhaps we haven't enough things about ourselves to worry about, anyway—what’s a few glands more or less? Dr. Berman makes us feel that this is a gland life after all. (Continued on page 29) comicbooks.com