Life, 1927-12-08 · page 16 of 40
Life — December 8, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon**: A prizefighter's manager (labeled in caption) discusses a boxer named "Joe" with what appears to be a sports journalist or editor. The manager urges using only "two big words" in an article about Joe for a graphic—suggesting the boxer is not intelligent and requires simplified language. This is satire on both sports journalism's tendency to sensationalize fighters and stereotypes about boxers' intellectual capacity. **Bottom Section**: Contains literary criticism of works by John Spottswood, including "Dismal Soil," with a small comic illustration about fish. The page transitions into a section titled "In the Order of Their Appearance" discussing a playwright bringing a friend to dinner. The content satirizes both literary pretension and social conventions of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ARY_ critic reviews of literary creation, anc considerably impressed: “Mr. Spottswood has etched uy a background of bitter monotony the stark, uncultured dreariness of these rude lives—" Dismal Soil’ is a melan choly key, a concert the struggle to from—" “The author filled every inch of his canvas with cruelly searching detail; the characters stand before us in all their—" “Dismal Soil,” by Spottswood, enacts for us on a stage of virgin land the de- pressing tragedy of a small band of pioneer peasants—” symphony in minor composed of wrest life has John a “Mr. Spottswood has woven a re- Lis yon cast a simple yet beautiful mold of PRIZEFIGHTER'S MANAGER (ro Social Secretary): Look ‘ere, Fishface—ya only got Joe usin’ two big words in this article to tha’ Graphic! What's the idea? Versatility ¢ tapestry out of the poverty kness of a group—" author of ‘Dismal Soil’ has — it FIRST FISH: Now you just grab hold of that worm and you'll get a nice juicy meal. SECOND FISH: I'm not so sure. I'll bet there's a catch in it somewhere. the bitter existence of these brave Jers—" his diversely talented gentleman, appears, everything in the w has done practically of artistic endeavor except write a book. James A. McCloskey. In the Order of Their Appearance LAYWRIGHT (bringing home a friend to dinner and chil- and indicating wife dren): Joe, I want you to meet the Love Interest and Juveniles. OW that the sale of cracked ice has been pro- nounced illegal we shall ex- pect to see several crackeasies opened in New York. comicbooks.com