—C. E. Van Loan
This is the first time in five years I’ve regretted not being in New York.
—Harry Leon Wilson
Monterey, California,
April First, Nineteen-fifteen.
BY ARTHUR WILLIAM BROWN
Irvin is a true humorist in that he knows when not to be funny. In addition to numberless works of irresistible joviality, he has contributed to American literature some of its most serious notes, including stories of pathos and also of gruesome power, almost unrivalled. He has written important essays on food, too, one on Southern cooking, in particular, that is as savory as Charles Lamb’s “Dissertation on Roast Pig.” We are safe in hailing Cobb as already a classic.