Pieces of Hate; And Other Enthusiasms

P I E C E S O F H A T E HEYWOOD BROUN
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY PUBLISHERS 1922 NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1922 BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
PIECES OF HATE. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO MY FATHER HEYWOOD C. BROUN
The trouble with prefaces is that they are partial and so we have decided to offer instead an unbiased review of Pieces of Hate. The publishers have kindly furnished us advance proofs for this purpose.
We wish we could speak with unreserved enthusiasm about this book. It would be pleasant to make out a list of three essential volumes for humanity and suggest the complete works of William Shakespeare, the Bible and Pieces of Hate, but Mr. Broun's book does not deserve any such ranking. Speaking as a critic of books, we are not at all sure that we care to recommend it. It seems to us that the author is honest, but the value of that quality has been vastly overstressed in present-day reviewing. We are inclined to say What of it? There would be nothing particularly persuasive if a man should approach a poker game and say, Won't you let Broun in; I can assure he's honest. Why should a recommendation which is taken for granted among common gamblers be considered flattering when applied to a writer?
Anyhow, it does not seem to us that Broun carries honesty to excess. There is every indication that most of the work in Pieces of Hate has been done so hurriedly that there has been no opportunity for a recount. If it balances at any given point luck must be with him as well as virtue. All the vices of haste are in this book of stories, critical essays and what not. The author is not content to stalk down an idea and salt it. Whenever he sees what he believes to be a notion he leaves his feet and tries to bring it down with a flying tackle. Occasionally there actually is an exciting and interesting crash of flying bodies coming into contact. But just as often Mr. Broun misses his mark and falls on his face. At other times he gets the object of his dive only to find that it was not a genuine idea after all, but only a straw man, a sort of tackling dummy set up to fool and educate novices.