Among the Literati

During the past few weeks the literary pages of our magazines and daily newspapers have devoted much space to the printing of selected lists of books, published during the past season, recommended for holiday gifts. This is an annual custom, something like picking All – American football teams, and it is very hard to resist the temptation of doing one for this column, but this column will contain itself and confine its effort to debunking this practice.

The lists that have been printed are revealing, especially those contributed by authors and critics who have other jobs on the side. The authors use the opportunity as a chance to pay debts to other writers. This results in an exhibition of back-slapping, log rolling and the recommendation of obscure and practically unkown books. One author went so far as to place a book on his list that never was published. He had recommended its publication and labored under the delusion that it had been accepted. Another fellow who writes under two names recommended his works and a lady novelist placed her husband’s tome on her list, even though the critics were unanimous in panning the bridegroom’s effort.

Most interesting, however, was the spectacle of a critic for a weekly magazine who set down eighty-eight books as his recommendations, twelve of these books were issued by the publishing house for which he acts as editor. Of this dozen, only two found places on any other selections.

Will the immigration authorities make the same mistake they did last year John Strachey arrived buy his book as soon as they could in this country? He is getting in again tomorrow for another lecture tour. Last year he was listed as “a Communist Jew.” Strachey coming from one of the most prominent Church of England families is about as Jewish as Yeats, the Irish poet…. Strachey, incidentally, will make his first American address at the Mecca Temple on December 28; when he will talk against war and Fascism….

Alexander Woollcott is to be admired for his honest and shameless plugging of his own book “While Rome Burns.” There is nothing coy about the hefty writer. He is on the radio once a week and on one of his broadcasts he told his listeners to go out and raise the money. Last season when his play “Dark Towers” was enjoying its short run on Broadway he was not reluctant about urging people to go and see it….

“Government Not Politics,” Franklin Roosevelt’s first book and written just before he was nominated, can now be purchased for 19 cents. It was originally priced at $1.00.