| + + + | Dial. 38: 187. Mr. 16, ‘05. 890w. |
“The half-humorous, half-tender familiarity and freedom of these communications ...”
| + + | Reader. 5: 502. Mr. ‘05. 390w. | |
| + + | R. of Rs. 30: 755. D. ‘04. 120w. |
“A number of easy conversational and very characteristic missives.”
| + + | Spec. 94: 257. F. 18. ‘05. 970w. |
Thackeray, William Makepeace. [Vanity fair.] $1.25. Crowell.
“Vanity fair” has been compressed into one small volume of the “Thin paper classics” series, and appears in this handy form without sacrifice of clear type. It contains a frontispiece from a drawing by Frank T. Merrill.
Thanet, Octave, pseud. (Alice French). Man of the hour. [†]$1.50. Bobbs.
Johnny-Ivan Winslow, the man of the hour, is the son of an Iowa plow manufacturer and a Russian princess whose altruistic dreams took shape in championing the Nihilists’ cause. Believing in the redemption of the toiler, this mother’s son throws himself and his money at the feet of struggling strikers, working in the midst of rioters with the best against the worst. The intensity of his subjective relation to his cause records only failure in the end, not because of his inability to stand at the helm, but because of the operation of a wrong principle. There is a steadfast Peggy in the tale whose magnificent faith in the triumph of Johnny over his Ivan theories is fully rewarded.
“This novel considered as fiction merits special notice. It is one of the best romances of the year. As a sociological study, it is impossible to speak in such favorable terms, for though there is much that is fine and true in its spirit, and though we believe that the author desires to be fair and just, she has signally failed at many points.”