Part 31

*LEWIS, SINCLAIR.* Born at Sauk Centre, Minn., Feb. 7, 1885. Educated at local schools, and graduate of Yale University. Newspaper reporter, assistant editor of Adventure and of Transatlantic Tales, editor of the Publishers’ Newspaper Syndicate, editor for George H. Doran Company and Frederick A. Stokes Company. First published story appeared in Pacific Monthly about 1905. Books: “Our Mr. Wrenn,” 1914; “The Trail of the Hawk,” 1915; “Job,” 1917; “The Innocents,” 1917. Lives at Port Washington, L. I., N. Y.

*Willow Walk.

*LIEBERMAN, ELIAS.* Born in Petrograd, Russia, Oct. 30, 1883. His parents emigrated with him to New York in 1891. Graduate of the College of the City of New York and New York University. Head of the English Department, Bushwick High School, Brooklyn, N. Y. Aside from life itself, magazine and newspaper work has always been his chief interest. First published story, “The Open Door,” Lippincott’s Magazine, September, 1913. Books: “The American Short Story,” 1912; “Paved Streets,” 1918. Lives in Brooklyn, N. Y.

Tower of Confusion.

(3) *MARKS, JEANNETTE.* Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., 1875. Educated in Philadelphia, Dresden, and Wellesley College. Has travelled much in England and Wales. Fond of outdoor sports. Lecturer in English literature at Mt. Holyoke College. Member of the Committee on Habit Forming Drugs, American Public Health Association. First story published, “Mors Triumphans,” Outlook, May 20, 1905. Books: “The Cheerful Cricket,” 1907; “The English Pastoral Drama,” 1908; “Through Welsh Doorways,” 1909; “The End of a Song,” 1911; “A Girl’s School Days and After,” 1911; “Gallant Little Wales,” 1912; “Vacation Camping for Girls,” 1913; “Leviathan,” 1913; “Early English Hero Tales,” 1915; “Three Welsh Plays,” 1917. Winner of the Welsh National Theatre Prize, 1911. Lives at South Hadley, Mass.

*Haymakers. *Old Lady Hudson.

(1) *MORRIS, GOUVERNEUR.* Born in New York City, Feb. 7, 1876. Graduated from Yale University, 1898. Books: “A Bunch of Grapes,” 1897; “Tom Beauling,” 1901; “Aladdin O’Brien,” 1902; “The Pagan’s Progress,” 1904; “Ellen and Mr. Man,” 1904; “The Footprint,” 1908; “Putting on the Screws,” 1909; “Spread Eagle,” 1910; “The Voice in the Rice,” 1910; “It,” 1912; “If You Touch Them They Vanish,” 1913; “The Penalty,” 1915; “When My Ship Comes In,” 1915; “The Goddess,” 1915; “The Seven Darlings,” 1915; “We Three,” 1916. Lives in New York City.

Unsent Letter.

*MORTEN, MARJORY.* Born in New York City. Educated in boarding schools, studied art in Paris and New York. Married Alexander Morten, 1909. First story published, “Sophy So-and-So,” Harper’s Magazine, August, 1915. Lives in New York City.

*Nettle and Foxglove.

*MOSELEY, KATHARINE PRESCOTT.* Born in Newburyport, Mass. Niece of Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford. Privately educated in Washington, D. C. Her father, a secretary of the I. C. Commission, spent over twenty years in his well-known work for the amelioration of railroad employees. His life was written by James Morgan. Miss Moseley’s life has been spent between Newburyport, Washington, and Boston, with trips abroad. Her chief interests are in music and gardening. Her home is at Deer Island, Newburyport, Mass.

*Story Vinton Heard at Mallorie.

(23) *MYERS, WALTER L.* Born in Lawrence, Kans., 1886, and reared in Iowa. Educated in Iowa public schools, State University of Iowa and Harvard University. In civil life Assistant Professor of English, University of Iowa. Now Second Lieutenant, Machine-Gun Training Centre, Camp Hancock, Ga. Chief interest, literature. First published story, “At the Crossing of the Trails,” Outing, 1909.

*Clouds.

(4) *O’HIGGINS, HARVEY J.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

*Owen Carey.

*OPPENHEIM, JAMES.* Born at St. Paul, Minn., May 24, 1882. Educated at Columbia University. Engaged in Social Settlement Work in New York, 1901 to 1903. Married, 1905. Teacher and Acting Superintendent, Hebrew Technical School for Girls, New York, 1905 to 1907. Editor, the Seven Arts Magazine, 1916-17. First story published in a school paper at age of thirteen. Books: “Doctor Rast,” 1909; “Monday Morning,” 1909; “Wild Oats,” 1910; “The Pioneers,” 1910; “Pay-Envelopes,” 1911; “The Nine-Tenths,” 1911; “The Olympian,” 1912; “Idle Wives,” 1914; “Songs for the New Age,” 1914; “The Beloved,” 1915; “War and Laughter,” 1916; “The Book of Self,” 1917; “Night,” 1918. Chief interests: running a Ford in the Litchfield Hills, taking care of chickens and gas engines, analytic psychology, talking with a friend, and writing poetry. Lives in New York City.

* Second-Rater.

(34) *O’SULLIVAN, VINCENT.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

Exhibit C-470.

*PATTERSON, ELIZABETH.* Born in Old Fort Seward, Jamestown, Dakota Territory, and spent her childhood in the picturesque life of isolated army posts. Daughter of Brigadier-General John S. Patterson, U. S. A. Educated at Cooperstown, N. Y., High School. Chief interests, traveling and out-of-door things. Expects to spend the coming winter in France in Red Cross service. First story published, “Sir Galahad,” All-Story Weekly, May 18, 1918. Lives in Cooperstown, N. Y.

Sir Galahad.

*PATTERSON, NORMA.* Born at Jasper, Texas, July 6, 1891. Educated at Beaumont High School and University of Nashville. Chief interest at present, turning out khaki-colored sweaters. Is an earnest student of places, words, people, and national issues. First published story, “The Roll of Honor,” Holland’s Magazine, 1915. Lives in San Antonio, Tex.

*Unto Each His Crown.

*PAYNE, WILL.* Born on a farm in Whiteside County, Ill., Jan. 9, 1855. Public-school education. Chief interests: writing and three grandchildren. “My first magazine story was published in the Century about 1891, but while I have a clear recollection of the indignation of the gentleman who unconsciously sat as a model for the leading character, I can’t, to save me, recover the title.” Member of National Institute of Arts and Letters. Engaged in journalism, 1890 to 1904. Books: “Jerry the Dreamer,” 1896; “The Money Captain,” 1898; “The Story of Eva,” 1901; “On Fortune’s Road,” 1902; “Mr. Salt,” 1903; “When Love Speaks,” 1906; “The Automatic Capitalist,” 1909; “The Losing-Game,” 1909. Lives in Paw Paw, Mich.

*His Escape.

*PELLEY, WILLIAM DUDLEY.* An accomplished writer of Vermont stories, proprietor of the St. Johnsbury Caledonian, and editorial free lance. Is now traveling in Siberia. Lives at Bennington, Vt.

*Toast to Forty-Five.

(4) *PERRY, LAWRENCE.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

*Poet.

*PRATT, LUCY.* Born at Deerfield, Mass., July 29, 1874. Educated at Deerfield Academy, private school at Nyack, N. Y., Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Teacher at Hampton Institute, 1897 to 1904. First story published, “The Entrance of Ezekiel.” Books: “Ezekiel,” 1909; “Ezekiel Expands,” 1914; “Felix Tells It,” 1915. Chief interests: human beings, music, literature, and changing seasons. Lives at Cambridge, Mass.

*Green Umbrellas.

(4) *PULVER, MARY BRECHT.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

*David and Jonathan.

*PUTNAM, GEORGE PALMER.* Born at Rye, N. Y., Sept. 7, 1887. Educated in public schools and King’s School, Stamford, Conn., Gunnery School, Washington, D. C., Harvard University, and University of California. Journalist, newspaper owner, author, Mayor of Bend, Ore., and Secretary to the Governor of Oregon. Enlisted in the army and went to the Mexican border. Has been in Department of Justice for eight months and is now in the Officers’ Training Camp, Louisville, Ky. Chief interests: outdoor world, travel, politics, and people. First published story, “The Sixth Man,” Ladies’ Home Journal, February, 1918. Books: “The Southland of North America,” 1913; “Outings in Oregon,” 1915; “The Smiting of the Rock,” 1917. Home: Bend, Ore.

*Sixth Man.

*RANCK, EDWIN CARTY.* Born in Lexington, Ky., 1879. Educated in private schools and Harvard. Newspaper man since 1898. On staffs of newspapers in Lexington and Covington, Ky. Dramatic editor, Cincinnati Post, 1906; St. Louis Star, 1907 and 1908; Brooklyn Eagle, 1916 to 1918. Has been in France as war correspondent. Now press representative and play reader for the Greenwich Village Theatre, New York City. First published story, “The Chosen People,” Lippincott’s Magazine, September, 1906. Books: “History of Covington,” 1903; “Poems for Pale People,” 1906; “The Night Riders,” 1912; “The Doughboys’ Book,” 1919. Lives in New York City.

Out o’ Luck.

*RHODES, HARRISON (GARFIELD).* Born at Cleveland, Ohio, June 2, 1871. Educated at public schools, Cleveland, Adelbert College of Western Reserve University, and Harvard University. Chief interests, the war, travel, human society, and writing. First published story, “The Impertinence of Charles Edward,” McClure’s Magazine, January, 1903. Books: “The Lady and the Ladder,” 1906; “Charles Edward,” 1907; “The Flight to Eden,” 1907; “Guide Book to Florida,” 1912; “In Vacation America,” 1915. Lives in New York City.

*Extra Men.

*RIVERS, STUART.*

Leading Lady of the Discards.

*RUSSELL, JOHN.* Born at Davenport, Ia., April 22, 1885. Son of Charles Edward Russell, publicist. Educated in Brooklyn, Chicago, and Northwestern University. Left college to make a tour of the world. Spent some time in the South Seas. Reporter and special writer New York Herald, 1907. Special correspondent to Panama and Peru, 1908. Staff interviewer, teacher, and fiction writer, New York Herald Sunday Magazine, 1908 to 1911. Free lance magazine contributor under seven pseudonyms until 1916. On volunteer mission for U. S. Public Information, England and Ireland, 1918. First published story, “First Assistant to the Substitute,” Circle Magazine, July, 1907. Chief interests, fiction and travel. Married Grace Nye Bolster of Chicago; daughter, Lydia. No acknowledged books.

Adversary.

(3) *SEDGWICK, ANNE DOUGLAS. (MRS. BASIL DE SÉLINCOURT).* Born at Englewood, N. J., March 28, 1873. Educated by governess at home. Left America when nine years of age, and has since lived abroad, chiefly in Paris and London. Has studied painting and exhibited at Paris. Married, 1908. Books: “The Dull Miss Archinard,” 1898; “The Confounding of Camelia,” 1899; “The Rescue,” 1902; “Paths of Judgment,” 1904; “The Shadow of Life,” 1906; “A Fountain Sealed,” 1907; “Amabel Channice,” 1908; “Franklin Winslow Kane,” 1910; “Tante,” 1911; “The Nest,” 1912; “The Encounter,” 1914. Lives near Oxford, England.

*Daffodils.

(1234) *SINGMASTER, ELSIE.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

*Release.

(234) *SMITH, GORDON ARTHUR.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

*Return.

(34) *SPRINGER, FLETA CAMPBELL.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

*Solitaire.

(234) *STEELE, WILBUR DANIEL.* (_for biography, see 1917_).

Always Summer. *Dark Hour. Eternal Youth. Man’s a Fool. Perfect Face. *Taste of the Old Boy. *Wages of Sin. White Man.

*STREET, JULIAN.* Born in Chicago, April 12, 1879. Educated in Chicago public schools and Ridley College, St. Catharines, Ontario, Can. His first writing was done when he helped to revive the school paper there. At nineteen became a reporter on New York Mail and Express. “Became dramatic editor of that paper at twenty-one—just about the kind of dramatic editor you might expect a twenty-one-year old to be.” Then in the advertising business for awhile and abroad for a year. First published story, “My Enemy—the Motor,” McClure’s Magazine, July, 1906. “I was fortunate in having such friends as Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson, with whom I went abroad, and who encouraged my early efforts to write. The greatest honor I have ever had in my work was an invitation from Booth Tarkington to collaborate with him upon a play, ‘The Country Cousin,’ which is still running. I work slowly and laboriously, and my production is small, because, though I love writing, it is very difficult for me. I dislike exercise but am fond of poker, which I play badly. My chief interests, aside from my wife and two children, are in what Mark Twain called ‘the damned human race,’ and in Havana cigars.” Books: “My Enemy—the Motor,” 1908; “The Need of Change,” 1909; “Paris à la Carte,” 1911; “Ship-Bored,” 1911; “The Goldfish,” 1912; “Welcome to our City,” 1913; “Abroad at Home,” 1914; “The Most Interesting American,” 1915; “American Adventures,” 1917. Lives in New York City.

*Bird of Serbia.

(3) *TARKINGTON, BOOTH.* Born in Indianapolis, July 29, 1869. Educated at Exeter Academy, Purdue University, and Princeton University. Member of National Institute of Arts and Letters. Books: “The Gentleman from Indiana,” 1899; “Monsieur Beaucaire,” 1900; “The Two Vanrevels,” 1902; “Cherry,” 1903; “In the Arena,” 1905; “The Conquest of Canaan,” 1905; “The Beautiful Lady,” 1905; “His Own People,” 1907; “The Guest of Quesnay,” 1908; “Beasley’s Christmas Party,” 1909; “Beauty and the Jacobin,” 1911; “The Flirt,” 1913; “Penrod,” 1914; “The Turmoil,” 1915; “Penrod and Sam,” 1916; “Seventeen,” 1916; “The Magnificent Ambersons,” 1918. Plays: “Monsieur Beaucaire” (with E. G. Sutherland), 1901; “The Man from Home” (with Harry Leon Wilson), 1906; “Cameo Kirby,” 1907; “Your Humble Servant,” 1908; “Springtime,” 1908; “Getting a Polish,” 1909; “The Country Cousin” (with Julian Street), 1917. Lives in Indianapolis.

*Three Zoölogical Wishes.

*TOLMAN, ALBERT W.* Born at Rockport, Me., Nov. 29, 1866. Brought up in Portland, Me. Educated in Portland public and high schools, graduate of Bowdoin College and Harvard University. Tutor in Greek and rhetoric, Bowdoin College, 1889 to 1890. Instructor in elocution and rhetoric, 1890 to 1893. Elected Assistant Professor of English, 1893, but resigned on account of poor health. Practised law, 1898 to 1913, at the same time writing adventure stories, principally for the Youth’s Companion. For last few years has devoted himself almost wholly to writing. First published story probably “On the Monument,” Golden Days, about 1886. Book, “Jim Spurling, Fisherman,” 1918. Lives in Portland, Me.

*Five Rungs Gone.

*VENABLE, EDWARD C.*

“Ali Babette.” *At Isham’s.

(34) *VORSE, MARY HEATON* (_for biography, see 1917_).

*De Vilmarte’s Luck. *Huntington’s Credit. River Road.

*WILLIAMS, BEN AMES.* Born in Macon, Miss., March 7, 1889. Brought up in Jackson, Ohio. Educated at West Newton, Mass., and Cardiff, Wales. Graduated from Dartmouth College, 1910. Newspaper man in Jackson, Ohio, Oklahoma City, and Boston until 1916, now devotes himself entirely to fiction. “I married a Wellesley girl, who insists that she and our two boys are properly my chief interest. Fiction writing comes next; and after that tennis, golf, fishing, swimming, gunning, and the general run of outdoor stuff, with chess for rainy-day wear. My first published story—my eighty-fourth in the order of writing—was ‘The Wings of Lias,’ Smith’s Magazine, July, 1915. Like a good many others, I owe a debt to Robert H. Davis of Munsey’s for the encouragement that kept me going.” Lives in Newton Centre, Mass.

Right Whale’s Flukes.

*WILSON, MARGARET.* _See_ *“Elderly Spinster.”*

*WINSLOW, THYRA SAMTER.* Born in Fort Smith, Ark., 1889. Ancestors on both sides included writers. Attended public and private schools, Cincinnati Art Academy, and University of Missouri. Feature writer on the Fort Smith Southwest American and the Chicago Tribune. Experimental work included principalship of an Oklahoma school and theatrical experience from the chorus to ingénue. In 1912 married John Seymour Winslow, son of Chief Justice John Bradley Winslow of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Interests: all printed matter, people, the theatre, interior decoration, and psychology. First story, “Little Emma,” The Smart Set, December, 1915. Her subsequent stories are appearing mainly in the same publication. Lives in New York City.

Eva Duveen.

*WOOD, FRANCES GILCHRIST.* Born half a century ago, near the small prairie town of Carthage, Ill. Graduate of Carthage College, and has done much postgraduate work, credit due to student ancestry. In earlier years worked as reporter and editor on western newspapers, city and small town, and in railway administration with her father, a combination that carried her well over the States and Mexico. Present interests centre, by turn, in the game of writing; children, including her own; community festivals; gardening and all out of doors; as well as a passion for pursuing the historic ghost through haunt of house and highway. First published story, “The White Battalion,” The Bookman, May, 1918. Books: “The Children’s Pageant,” 1913; “Pageant of Ridgewood,” 1915; “Cartoons of Dress,” 1917. Lives in New York City.

As Between Mothers. *White Battalion.

*WOOD, JOHN SEYMOUR.* Born at Utica, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1853. Graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School. Married, 1880. Has practised law in New York City since 1876. Books: “Gramercy Park,” 1892; “A Daughter of Venice,” 1892; “College Days,” 1895; “A Coign of Vantage,” 1896; “Yale Yarns,” 1897. Editor of Bachelor of Arts, 1896 to 1898. Lives in New York City.

*In the House of Morphy.

THE ROLL OF HONOR OF FOREIGN SHORT STORIES IN AMERICAN MAGAZINES

JANUARY TO OCTOBER, 1918

_Note._ _Stories of special excellence are indicated by an asterisk. The index figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 prefixed to the name of the author indicate that his work has been included in the Rolls of Honor for 1914, 1915, 1916, and 1917 respectively. The list excludes reprints._

I. _English and Irish Authors_

(234) _Aumonier, Stacy._ *Bitter End. *Source of Irritation.

(23) _Blackwood, Algernon._ *S. O. S.

(2) _Colum, Padraic._ *Sea Maiden Who Became a Sea-Swan.

(134) “_Conrad, Joseph._” *Commanding Officer.

_Couch, Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-._ _See_ Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur Thomas.

(4) _Dudeney, Mrs. Henry._ “Willow Walk.”

_Friedlaender, V. H._ Last Day. Miracle.

(1234) _Galsworthy, John._ “Cafard!” *Gray Angel. *Indian Summer of a Forsyte.

_Hinkson, Katharine Tynan._ Boys of the House.

(4) _Mordaunt, Elinor._ *High Seas.

_Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur Thomas._ Old Æson.

_Stephens, James._ Crêpe de Chine. Darling. *Desire. Sawdust. School-fellows. Wolf.

_Tynan, Katharine._ _See_ Hinkson, Katharine Tynan.

_Watson, E. L. Grant._ *Cobwebs and Starshine. *Man and Brute.

_Windeler, B._ *Elimus.

II. _Translations_

_Alaihem, Sholom._ (_Yiddish._) *Great Prize.

_Anonymous._ *Bistoquet’s Triumph. (_French._) Oratorio. (_French._)

_Becquer, Gustav A._ (_Spanish._) *Our Lady’s Bracelet.

_Bertheroy, Jean._ (_French._) Cathedral.

(4) _Boutet, Frédéric._ (_French._) Rift.

(34) _Chekhov, Anton._ (_Russian._) *Overspiced. *Scandal Monger. *Vengeance. *Who Was She? *Work of Art

_Crussol, M._ (_French._) Love in War Time.

_Daudet, Alphonse._ (_French._) *Last Lesson.

_Efimovich, L._ (_Russian._) *Early Spring.

(3) “_Gorki, Maxim._” (_Russian._) *Makar Chudra. *Man Who Could Not Die.

_Jaloux, Edmond._ (_French._) *Vagabond.

_Mauclair, Camille._ (_French._) Inner Man.

_Stronny, Vladimir._ (_Russian._) *Father and Son.

_Villiers de l’Isle-Adam._ (_French._) *Heroism of Doctor Halidonhill.

THE BEST BOOKS OF SHORT STORIES OF 1918: A CRITICAL SUMMARY

_The Ten Best American Books._

1. Bierce. Can Such Things Be? Boni & Liveright. 2. Bierce. In the Midst of Life. Boni & Liveright. 3. Brown. The Flying Teuton. Macmillan. 4. Burt. John O’May. Scribner. 5. Hergesheimer. Gold and Iron. Knopf. 6. Hughes. Long Ever Ago. Harper. 7. Hurst. Gaslight Sonatas. Harper. 8. Steele. Land’s End. Harper. 9. Wolcott. A Gray Dream. Yale. 10. Wormser. The Scarecrow. Dutton.

_The Ten Best English Books._

1. Blackwood. The Empty House. Dutton. 2. Blackwood. John Silence. Dutton. 3. Blackwood. The Listener. Dutton. 4. Blackwood. The Lost Valley. Dutton. 5. Buchan. The Watcher by the Threshold. Doran. 6. Galsworthy. Five Tales. Scribner. 7. Harker. Children of the Dear Cotswolds. Scribner. 8. Jacks. The Country Air. Holt. 9. Phillpotts. Chronicles of Saint Tid. Macmillan. 10. Sélincourt. Nine Tales. Dodd, Mead.

_The Ten Best Translations._

1. Andreyev. The Seven That Were Hanged. Boni & Liveright.

2. Barbusse. We Others. Dutton.

3. Chekhov. The Wife. Macmillan.

4. Chekhov. The Witch. Macmillan.

5. Dantchenko. Peasant Tales of Russia. McBride.

6. Dostoevsky. White Nights. Macmillan.

7. Gogol. Taras Bulba. Dutton.

8. Gorky. Creatures That Once Were Men. Boni & Liveright.

9. Gorky. Stories of the Steppe. Stratford.

10. Tagore. Mashi. Macmillan.

_Below follows a record of eighty-seven distinctive volumes published during 1918, before November first._

I. _American Authors_

_Her Country_, by _Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews_ (Charles Scribner’s Sons). In this short story by Mrs. Andrews there is a fine emotional quality, and the spiritual values, though nowhere overstressed, will remind the reader of “The Perfect Tribute,” which still remains Mrs. Andrews’ best story. Written to assist the last Liberty Bond campaign, its significant interest is independent of its timeliness.

_In the Midst of Life_ and _Can Such Things Be?_ by _Ambrose Bierce_ (Boni & Liveright). To an Englishman, the lack of familiarity we show with Ambrose Bierce’s stories is a mystery. If he were asked to mention our foremost short story writers, he would think of Poe, Hawthorne, Harte, O. Henry, and Bierce. Yet the name of Ambrose Bierce is almost unknown in this country. His publishers are to be congratulated on the critical acumen that prompted them to reissue Bierce’s stories in a new popular edition. No writer, with the possible exceptions of Stephen Crane and Henri Barbusse, has written of war with more passionate vividness. Such stories as “The Horseman in the Sky,” “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” and “Chickamauga” are among the best stories ever written by an American, and in the field of the macabre Bierce at his best is very nearly the equal of Poe. I suppose that “In the Midst of Life” is the better volume, but “Can Such Things Be?” almost rivals it in interest.

_Helen of Troy_, and _Rose_, by _Phyllis Bottome_ (The Century Company). These two novelettes are studies in national and temperamental contrasts. Their deft characterization, subtle humor, and sense of place entitle them to a place beside the best novels of Ethel Sidgwick. They reveal a disciplined sense of poetry and a tolerance of outlook which spring from an older background than most American work.

_The Flying Teuton and Other Stories_, by _Alice Brown_ (The Macmillan Company). Last year I had occasion to express my belief that “The Flying Teuton” was the best short story that had been inspired by the war up to that time. It comes to us now in book form with a collection of Miss Brown’s other stories of war and peace, revealing the old qualities of courage, imagination, poetry, and dramatic irony which we have come to associate with the name of Miss Brown. I regard the book as her most satisfying contribution to the short story since “Meadow Sweet.”

_John O’May_, by _Maxwell Struthers Burt_ (Charles Scribner’s Sons). The wish which I expressed last year that Mr. Burt’s stories should be collected in book form is now gratified by the appearance of this volume. It is one of the few indispensable collections of the year by an American author, and gives Mr. Burt a place among American short story writers beside that of Mrs. Gerould, Wilbur Daniel Steele, H. G. Dwight, and Charles Caldwell Dobie. Few writers have a more thoughtful technique or a more unerring sense of dramatic values.

_Home Fires in France_, by _Dorothy Canfield_ (Henry Holt & Company). Here is a homely record of the new spirit that the war has developed in the homes of France, and of the human intercourse so rapidly cemented between the French people and ourselves. There is a quiet glow in these stories which idealizes the sufferings of France, and brings home to us poignantly the present realities of her sufferings. If the volume lacks the conscious art of “Hillsboro People,” its substance has been shaped by a personal experience so intense that the book should live as a memorial long after the incidents which it records have passed.

_Rush-Light Stories_, by _Maud Chapin_ (Duffield & Company). These poetic studies in place, though reminiscent of Gautier, are freshly told in a style that adequately mirrors the backgrounds of which they treat. I find them to be delicately wrought, with a prismatic beauty of phrasing, which errs slightly on the side of preciosity.

_The Thunders of Silence_, by _Irvin S. Cobb_ (George H. Doran Company). When this short story appeared in the Saturday Evening Post this year, it was discussed widely as a polemic. It is not literature, but it is journalism at its very best, and has fine story values.

_Free and Other Stories_, by _Theodore Dreiser_ (Boni & Liveright). This collection of stories is uneven, but the best of it is the best of Mr. Dreiser. In “The Lost Phœbe,” which I reprinted as one of the best short stories of 1917, a new legend was added to American letters which had much of the glamor of leisureliness of Hawthorne. Such a story as “McEwen of the Shining Slave Makers” is a fine imaginative projection into a new world, mirroring ironically our human passions in the warfare of two tribes of ants under the blades of a grass forest. Of the social studies in this volume, all show the exact observation and conscientious accumulation of detail for which Mr. Dreiser is noted, and the absence of selective power in many cases which often weakens his best work.