1. Before reading Mr. Cabell's stories, read his _Beyond Life_, which
explains his theory of romance. He maintains that art should be based on
the dream of life as it should be, not as it is; that enduring
literature is not "reportorial work"; that there is vital falsity in
being true to life because "facts out of relation to the rest of life
become lies," and that art therefore "must become more or less an
allegory."