Life, 1929-03-15 · page 40 of 44
Life — March 15, 1929 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines advertising with book reviews. The left side features a **Beeman's Pepsin Gum advertisement** satirizing the modern obsession with quick meals and digestive aids—showing a man hastily eating while chewing gum "aids digestion." The joke targets efficiency-minded Americans who prioritize speed over proper eating. The center contains a **book review section** critiquing recent novels, including Walter Edmonds' *Rome Haul* (about the Erie Canal), *Plundered Host* by Fowler Hill, and references to classic works. The reviewer advocates for judging books on entertainment value rather than inflated "great" labels. The right side advertises **Bayer Aspirin**, featuring a nurse administering the tablet. The copy emphasizes its safety and effectiveness for everyday pain relief. At the bottom, a cartoon depicts a sophisticated couple observing something, with the woman calling it "adorably sadistic"—likely satirizing pretentious modernist aesthetics and how cultured society rationalized questionable behaviors as artistic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
What price quick lunch? Guar against indigestion, as millions now do, with a stick of Beeman’s Pepsin Gum after meals, Perfected over 30 years ago by Dr. Beeman, this delicious gum is today a favorite with those who buy chew- ing gum as an aid to digestion. And everybody loves that keen, refresh- ing flavor and wonderfully smooth quality. Try it today! aids digestion The New Books The champions of Rome by Haul have been chiding Perry this department for its Githens somewhat scathing report of that intended epic of the Erie Canal. Let me, therefore, amend the original opinion by sug- gesting that you innocent bystanders consider the book in a slightly dimmer light than that played on it by the publishers. Removed from the pitiless illumi- nation concentrated on anything hailed as “great”, it stands a better chance of appreciation by the ultimate con- sumer. Relieved of its epic label, it will be no less artificial, no less awk- ward in its construction, but these faults can then be overlooked for the sake of the entertainment it provides. Walter Edmonds, the author, is to be encouraged, undoubtedly, but his first novel should not be mentioned in the same breath with those other first. novels, The Case of Sergeant Grischa and Joseph and His Brethren. Prunverep Hosr (Dutton), by Fow- ler Hill, is the most beautifully writ- ten interpretation of boyhood it has been my good fortune to read. I can recall no other book where the emotions and attitudes of a grow- ing mind have been set down so sym- pathetically, and, on the whole, so ac- curately. Reading it, no man of thoughtful calibre but will better un- derstand the half-forgotten feelings of his own adolescence; no woman but will possess a deeper insight into boy- hood and manhood. We first see Peter Brush at the be- | ginning of that period when trusting innocence changes into wonder, then doubt, then youthful cynicism. His eager soul opens the door to beauty, and strangers enter in. Sex, religion, and the incomprehen- sibility of human relations put a foot in the door, shoulder their way to a reluctant interview. The host to beauty becomes the victim of reality. The novel does not stop there. It carries Peter to manhood, and a nor- mal, happy ending. But it is the early chapters for which this work will be remembered, their eloquent record of the years of anticipation which so often surpass the realization. Plundered Host is for the mature in mind. Those who greet beauty and Capable—and —careful—the trained nurse administers our comfort. If there is pain, she gives a tablet to relieve it. That tablet is Bayer Aspirin. Expe- rience has taught her it is quickest. The doctor has told her it’s quite harm- less. So it is safe to use in everyday life, any time you have an ache or pain. Take Bayer Aspirin at the first sign of a headache, cold, neuralgia, etc. Don’t wait until the suffering has become se- vere. Be sure, though, to get Bayer. There is only one genuine Aspirin. COASPIRIN Aspirin to the trade mark of Bayer Manofactere of Monoaceticacidester of Salicylicacid “My dear! Did you ever see anything 50 adorably ‘sadistic sort of?” comicbooks.com W This