GHITZA AND OTHER ROMANCES OF GYPSY BLOOD, by _Konrad Bercovici_
(Boni & Liveright). This is the best volume of short stories published
by an American author this year. It consists of nine epic fragments
which are studies in passionate color of Roumanian gypsy life. Mr.
Bercovici's work bears no trace of special literary influences, and he
has moulded a new form for these stories which disobeys successfully all
the codes of story writing. Whether we are to regard him as an American
or a European artist seems of little importance. The essential point is
that he and Sherwood Anderson are the most significant new short story
writers who have emerged in America within the past five years.
HOMESPUN AND GOLD, by _Alice Brown_ (The Macmillan Company).
Miss Brown's new collection of fifteen short stories, which she has
written during the past thirteen years, is not one of her best books,
but it is of considerable importance as one more contribution to the
literature of New England regionalism. Its qualities of homely fidelity
and quiet humor make it distinctly worth reading, and one story, "White
Pebbles" ranks with Miss Brown's best work.
THE VELVET BLACK, by _Richard Washburn Child_ (E.P. Dutton &
Company). I do not regard this as more than a piece of extremely
competent craftsmanship, and its interest to the man of letters is
largely technical, but it contains one excellent story full of dramatic
suspense and a certain literary honesty. I think "Identified" might be
commended to a short story anthologist.
THE SONS O' CORMAC, AN' TALES OF OTHER MEN'S SONS, by _Aldis
Dunbar_ (E.P. Dutton & Company). This collection of fifteen Irish fairy
and hero tales, told by a gardener to a little boy, show considerable
deftness of fancy, and although the idiom Mr. Dunbar uses is borrowed
and not quite convincing, his book seems to me almost as good as those
of Seumas MacManus, which probably suggested it.
GREAT SEA STORIES (Brentano's) and MASTERPIECES OF MYSTERY (4 vols.)
(Doubleday, Page & Co.), edited by _Joseph Lewis French_. These
anthologies, which are somewhat casually edited, are worthy of
purchase by students of the short story who do not possess many
anthologies, for they contain a number of standard texts. But I do
not think highly of the selections, which are of a thoroughly
conventional nature.
"MOMMA," AND OTHER UNIMPORTANT PEOPLE, by _Rupert Hughes_
(Harper & Brothers). This is an unimportant book containing one superb
story, "The Stick-In-the-Muds," which I had the pleasure of printing
last year in this series. It is one of the stories which Mr. Hughes has
written for his own pleasure and not for the preconceived pleasure of
his large and critical public. I consider that it ranks with the
excellent series of Irish-American studies which Mr. Hughes published a
few years ago.
MASTER EUSTACE, by _Henry James_ (Thomas Seltzer). This volume,
which is a companion to "A Landscape Painter," reprints five more early
stories of Henry James, not included in any American edition now in
print. They have all the qualities of "Roderick Hudson" and "The
American," and should be invaluable to the students of Henry James's
technique. It would have been a matter of regret had these stories not
been rendered accessible to the general public.
FAMOUS DETECTIVE STORIES and FAMOUS PSYCHIC STORIES,
edited by _J. Walker McSpadden_ (Thomas Y. Crowell Company). These two
anthologies have been edited on more or less conventional lines, but
they contain several important stories which are not readily accessible,
and I can commend them as texts for students of the short story.
TALES FROM A ROLLTOP DESK by _Christopher Morley_ (Doubleday,
Page & Company). I record this volume for the sake of one admirable
story, "Referred to the Author," which almost any contemporary of Mr.
Morley would have been glad to sign. Apart from this, the volume is
ephemeral.
THE SLEUTH OF ST. JAMES'S SQUARE by _Melville Davisson Post_.
(D. Appleton & Company). This volume contains the best of Mr. Post's
well-known mystery stories, and I take special pleasure in calling
attention to "The Wrong Sign," "The Hole in the Mahogany Panel," and
"The Yellow Flower." These stories show all the resourceful virtuosity
of Poe, and are models of their kind. While they seem to me to possess
no special literary value, they have solved some important new technical
problems, and I believe they will repay attentive study.
DEVIL STORIES, edited by _Maximilian J. Rudwin_ (Alfred A.
Knopf). This is an excellent anthology revealing a wide range of reading
and introducing a number of good stories which are likely to prove new
to most readers. The editor has added to the value of the volume by
elaborate annotation. He wears his learning lightly however, and it only
serves to adorn his subject.
CHRISTMAS ROSES, AND OTHER STORIES, by _Anne Douglas Sedgwick_
(Houghton Mifflin Company). This admirable series of nine studies
dealing with the finer shades of character are subdued in manner. Mrs.
de Sélincourt has voluntarily restricted her range, but she has simply
"curtailed her circumference to enlarge her liberty," and I believe this
volume is likely to outlast many books which are more widely talked
about.
CAPE BRETON TALES, by _Harry James Smith_ (The Atlantic Monthly
Press). This little volume of short stories and studies deals with the
Arcadian life of Cape Breton and the Gaspé coast. I am speaking from
personal knowledge when I state that, this is the first time the
Acadian has been understood by an English speaking writer, and if Mr.
Smith's art works within narrow limits, it is quite faultless in its
rendering. This volume suggests what a loss American letters has
sustained in the author's death.