Booklist 16:356 Jl ’20
“He guesses frequently and variably; he admits uncertainty; he has a vigorous prejudice against dogmatism. But this philosophy takes its form as rigidly from these bantering guesses, as though other guesses did not exist.... The consequences are lamentable. Standards of credibility are abandoned; subjectivism replaces criticism; and miracles are rampant.” Joseph Jastrow
− Dial 69:204 Ag ’20 820w
“The notable thing about this book, now as in the earlier edition, is the nobility of spirit which informs it.”
+ Nation 111:278 S 4 ’20 130w N Y Times 25:18 Jl 4 ’20 370w
HOLT, LEE. Paris in shadow. *$2 Lane
The author’s novel “Green and gay” was published in 1918. The present book is written in the form of a diary, but it is not possible to determine whether it is an authentic record or a fictional device. A “portrait of the author,” printed as a foreword, says: “In the diary which follows he has noted down the trifling happenings of every day, those little events which more than all show the true spirit of the time. He writes from the standpoint of an American who has lived in France most of his life, but still retains a deep love of his own country. The book was not written in a spirit of criticism, merely to describe the everyday Paris as it was in 1916–1917.”
“It is written with a good deal of literary charm and may fittingly be described by that much abused expression, a ‘human document.’”