Variety (Jan 1934)

Tuesday) January 16, 1934 LITERATI 49 Best Sellers Best Seller; for the week ending Jan. 13, as reported by the. American News Co., Inc. Ficti ^Anthony Advelse' ($3.00) >.s,..By Hervey Allen 'Thin. Man' ($2.00) DashieU Hammett 'Sea Level' ($2.B0) ........... ^ ........... -By Anne Parrlsh 'Skin & Bones' ($2.00) ^......... iBy Thorne Smith 'Alab:am" ($2.00) ..i. .>^...By Donald Henderson Clark 'Cross Qt - peace' ($2.5^) • • • ♦ • •' • • .• • • • • • -By Philip Glbbs Non-Fi6ti ' 'Brazilian AdVehtiire' ($2:76) . .... ............By Peter Plemine 'Life Begins at .Forty' ($1.50) .. Waltet . B. Pitkin •Timber Linfe' ($3;00) ^. J,By Gen i Fowler ?100,000,o6o Guinea Pigs',($2.00)..By Arthur Kallet & F, J. SchUnk 'Crowded Hours* ($3.00)...,....,.. .^y AJiqe Roosevelt tiQngwort]& 'More Power You* ($1.76).......... Walter B, Pitkin Eva L«Gal.li«nne Writes Apparently £^Vi9i Le Gallienne has written her own memoirs ('At 33/ XoDgmaiis, Green & Co., $3.6Q>, for j)o ghost writer could so success-, folly resist the temptation to color- fully drainatlsre the life of the Actress who, in spite Of her heritage of talent; carved out her stiCcess by- dint of hard work. supporting a i)urn}nS ambitionJ Miss Le Gal- lienne, In" spite of her -flair for the dramatic in scene and situation, has miniinlzed this phase to produce a straightforward, honest, and absorb- ing aiccouht of her adventures ihto thie ■thea;tre. The author dates back to heir first eonsciousness :0f life,, sketchy at the Btart, but rounding Into a clear pic- ture ■ of her juvenile background. $he passes oh to. her. conquest of the . theatre, . adhering to simple .narrative,. y6t. makings her points effectively through .the sincerity with which they are related, She. does hot even go overboard pn the Civic Repertory, as shei mlgttt well be excused, for doing. It's, all as simple and as confldential .^as a chat with an Intimate friend, and therein iles its chief charm. F'Ublished Jan. 5, the last day of her 33rd year. Irritating People i>awtltia McDonald has chosen an Irritating collection. Of society -snobs-to swlte vahout. in lier .iLiiyer i»latter' XFarrar & Rlnehart/ $2). Her heroine Is the ida;ughter of a. wealthy manufacturer of piumbine supplies whb.'marries a yoiihg chap from tho I<ong Island sporting, set,, .long, on faniily but short on coin.: He levies her deyotedly, but not as much as a girl of his own. set, who, like him, inarrled, for money. Lat-, ter*s husband is . a garter snapper, who flres the heroine's husband .when she .burns his hand with a cigarette stub tor pinching her leg; . He becomes, a continental-style marriage gigolo, but Is Jacked out of the ruck by his. lost lOve who makes her husband hire him again. Meanwhile the domestic lute has been rifted and the heroine goes the whole distance with her lawyer- guardian, who was a childhood friend. Lawyer has to give up his fortune and not only pledge half of his future earnings to his low- grade wife, but also pledge half th6 heroine's'Income In order to effect: a hitch. Only healthy and sincere char- actor In. the book~ia the man who makes oiichid bath tubs, and he fig- ures only intermittently. The rest range from merely Irritating to dis- tasteful and their .combination does not make for a gripping story> Chief appeal Is to the non-so- ciety people who may like to feel that socialites are so rotten. Those Publisher Options Three-^book optioning by pub- lishers on .taking author's flr6t book for publication Is getting runaround by scribblers, and accounts for many switches to opposition pub- lishers of 'authors under contract.' If first book clicks, writers say, those contracts are all pro-pub- lisher, since he Isn't forced to take the next two. Aa long as he's going to reserve the right to reject the next two, even If authors must give him first crack, writers see nothing In the t>ro.yiso for thdm. If they want new conditions on basis o£_flrst success they have to, they say/send publisher a brace of old turks. If he says no to both they then trot: .but their new (fourth) bOOk for a new deal,, the old contract haying been legally washed up, To save ail that they suggest publisher .blue-pencil the option clause. Jewish Who'e Who A Biographical Encyclopedia 'of American Jews; the first of its kind ever attempted. Is to he undertaken by Leo M, Glassman. As editor-In^ chief of the .proposed venture, Giassmah Is enlisting, the eftorts of It number of literarjr notables of Jewish descent to serve In. an edi- torial advisory capacity. First to signify his Intention to aid In the work is F. p. A. (Franklin Pt Adams), Prom .present indications the Biographical Encyclopedia of Amer- ican Jews, will be a bulky affair, necessitating a number of volumes. ' New Musie J^ag Newest addition to the rapldly- Krowing list of mags on the subject of music is Tempo, a monthly. Pub- lished by- the Music League, and edited by.Isabel Lowden, it has an advisory board comprising many prominent names irf the music world. The publication will even review books on music, with Charles Ro- land handling. Good Anglo-Saxon Use of the woird 'pot-ibelly' in the headline of an advertis- nrient prepared by Nelson Dpubleday for the book, 'The Culture of the Abdomen', caused ime, . Collier's and other magazines to . reject the copy. Literary Digiest" ac- cepted, one issue, but turned down a repeat. Order, Informing; the publishers that 'some of its readers had 6br jected. Nelson . Dpubleday subse- quently ^ts^rted a letter-adver- tising, campaign to; sell the book> -taking as the lead the ma;gazines' riejectioh of the ad- vertisement. Concern defends: use .of 'pot-bfelly', on the groiind It conveys, a picture no .Other phrase doies; Library Problem Withdrawal, of. American book publishers, from, their ritishvafflili- ates has, by the sanie token, brought more' British .. publishiers into the American field. Bbth action^ can be ascribed to one reasOn-^the^ ever^ growing, readl.ng libraries, over there,. ' Thfi. reading libraries, correspond- ing to the circviliatinig libraries oyer here, ] practically the sole outlet for -bOOks" Tcxceptlng - bOst -sellersr With book sales thus held down, the btiisiness. is suffering. That is said td/be. the cause for A.merican publishers - withdrawing from the English field. ' For the same reason^ ritlsh firms, finding . opportunities llmltiid jln their liatiye land, are branching out here. . A notable example is Sheed & Ward whose activities In Its short existence on this side of the water nearly' exceeds that of the parent Organization In LbndOn. While the circulating libraries here in. no way approach the niag-r hitude of those over there, they aro gnrowing, and may yet present the same sort of a problem to American publishers as they now -do to their British counterparts. Depression has given the circu- lating libraries a decided boost, for those unable to pay $2 or more fOr a book are glad to rent It for a few centd a day. Naturally, the pub- lishers have never liked the Idea. Where six copies of a book per shOp for circulating purposes may be a big order, it is nothing to what the shop might take'for outright sales. To the bookshops, however, rentals are better than nothing^ not even sales. And besides, most every drug store and stationery store maintains' a circulating library, and the book- shop niust protect itself. Froth the author's viewpoint, book rentals are far. less desirable than bOpk sales, also, but they can't 4o anything about It. It'a a m tter fOr the publishers and booksellers to get together on. Not Clerks Indigent scribblers no can see the regulations of the CWA as regards their craft, Members of some, branches of the arts, such as artists and musicians, not only. permitted to follow their professions, undei* CWA hire, but can earn as much as $36 a week. On the other hand, scribbers are just as many more pen-pushers, and besides being as- signed to Ignoble clerical work, can hope for no more than $20 a week. To secure equal rights with the- artists aiid musicians, the needy an thors both In the CWA and those who hope to get liii have formed th^ unemployed Writers Association. brganization, Is petitioning eistab-. lished' authors' associations, name writers and others toi agitate In their'behalf...Their argunienti which they claim Is hot unreasonable. Is that they can do as useful work in their own line as. the artistst. and musicians do In theirs. They alsb merit the extra few dc liars . a.vaii- able under their altered status,. they say. icago Publishers Chicago, which Is peculiarly a noh-bopk publishing town, has at ledst two book publishers -now. They . are Ra.lph F; Seytnbur and Daniel Ryerson, Inc., both of wliich get started at about the same time. Seymour will issue fiction and poetry, while the Ryerson concern "^vnTraeWfe^it§eir='tTr"firtl F4rst On the Seyiiipur fiction list is 'Hetalra,* by CJornelia Dodd Brown, ftyerson has 'The Stumbling Stone,' by Hazel Scott. Nugent. Collisoh's 14th Novel Wilson Collison's 14th novel, 'Congo Landing,' Ig to be published In. March by Robert M. McBride Co. Tale Is based on 'Dolly,' an brig ptory Hold to Metro, L. A. Exam's 42 By-lines To esta,blish persbnalitles for reader interest, Los Angeles Ex- aminer Is handiiiig out by-Iineis' to anyone who the paper figures may develop a personal following. Edi- tions of Dec 26 had an all-time hig:h of 42 by-lines. As^ In all Hearst papers^, Arthur Br'isbane Js the Star .feature. He has. the portslde column on Page 1. Inside, firsi by-line goes to Ray De Q'Fan (Bernard MlUi- gan), wlio hias two radio columns daily, one personal, tiie. other news.. •On the same page Is a. dally the- atrickl. ifeature by J^lorenbe . Law-' rcnce, drama . ed. Picture page, is next. With . Louella Parsons'] column, Jerry HOffmah and Marquis Busi)y, features: and: reviews and James. Mitchell's cbiumn. Latter was studio legnian, advanced to bolumn condiictor two: months ag;0. Society page has daily features by .Dixie Tighe and Marian Miartlh, fashions. Prudence Penny, home economics; Lisa Grenelle^ child.welfare; Chplly Angeieno and Jeian' Lbughborough, sotiiety, aiid Rene - Davles, picture society. Editorial page h^^s Winifred. Black,, who jspeclaillzes on anti-rnar- cotic yarns, Bujgs Baer, ciiarles Hanson Towhe, Brunio . Lessing, Will Cuppy, Emil Ludwig, J. p; McEvoy and Mary Borden, .Second sectibn's first page has. 6. b. Mc- Intyre in the Brisbane: spot. Sport .page leads with Mark Jfeliyj sports editor's dally column and a feature -by:-Kelly;—Chet Kbepple. handles.la riacing column, tipping the bang- tails;] Lewis Burton; Damon Riinyon and John . Connolly are . daily con- trlbs. Old p.bserver and Sol Plex are staif by lines used dally In the spiort. pages.; by anyone -'whP has anything to say. Ftnanclfil pages hiEive daily features by B. C. Forbes, iviichael Jay, Wylle King;, Merryle Stanley ;Rukei](ser,.'Stanton Lieeds, Johii M.. MOrahan, Joseph Lawrence and .Broadan Wall. . . . This number of signed special ar- ticles Is double the number used by any daily , paper Ip the west, triple the number Of by-lines on any other Los Angeles daily. 10 Years of Publiahinil Simon'& Schuster, galloping past the tehth. milestone of their pubr lishing careers, continue to be the showmen of the bOok mart. They've had a smaller list and more best- sellers in that stretch than any old line house,: and practlbally all their best-sellers were.wHh^ew names. F'lrm . owes origin to elevaitbr In old Aeolian buUdlnfr, M. Lincoln Schuster was manager of an outfit that . put on. automobile shows; Richard L. Simon a piano peddler. Offlceis of both in the same build- ing. They used to meet in the elevator. Once on walking but. they got to discussing: books. They discovered: both thought Romann Rolland'is 'Jean Christophe' the . greatest hovel ever written. This story,, about Beethoven really, revealed another thing. Both of them loved good music. In time they even published a life of Beethbven, which nosedived. But by that time they oould afford nosedives. New Deal Band V^agont Must be money cyound some- where. Bvery day new announce- ments lire cropping op of small mags arbund the country for 'better writing," poetry, etc Hardly ever been a little mag of this sort which made money, making the avalanche that , much niore mysterious. Three of the inost -recently an- nounced jmags are ^moke, ii^agazine of poetry, to be ptibliished ixi Provi- dence, R. I., as a quarterly; Minor- ity, general literary mag published In New TOric, and Mahusprlpt, short stOrles and poems^ published in Athens, Ohio. ^ Off Pattern Western novels, like western picr tureis, run pi-etty true to one of the. half dozen time-tried formulae, but now and then one comes along that gets over, onto a new track, and the result is apt to be more diverting. One of the riarltles Is Cherry Wilsbn's 'Black wings Sider' (King, $2), which retains, the Inaccessible retreat Of the bandits, but makes It the corral for a super-horse, pos- session of which Is desired by the contending factions. But this quest is made keenly Interesting through a broader treatment of the char- ^a-ctersr=and=the--book-should=a'ppoal^ to many to whom the horse epics are anathema. This is a story. Greenfield as Gpohsor New mag publisher Is Nicholas C. Greenfield, who is preparing' a monthly which he will call Yankee- land Magazine. Will be a general publlcatloh of fact and fiction. First issue will be out in T^ebruary or Mnrch. Journalistic Senators Recent appointment Of Joseph C. O'Mahohey,. who was Assistant Postniaster .General, aS United States Senator-from Wyowiing to succeed the .late John B. Kendrtck, added another name. to the group of newspapermen whb now serve in the Uppbr House. A native of Masisaichusetts, he first worked on the Cambridge 'Democrat.', In his early , twenties he mbyed to Boulder iCity, GoL, where he servbd as city editor of the 'Herald.' From: Boulder. City, O'Malioney went to Cheyenne, WyO'. as city editor of Senator Kendriclc's-daily,. the .;Stat§_ •Leader.'. Later Senator Kendrick v took O'Mahoney to Washington .Ih a sec- retarial capacity. While in the Capital: city he studied law On the side, and after receiving his degree,, he returned to Wyoming to prac-. tibe at . the bar and to enter pbll- tics. Senator O'Mahoney Is very close to. President Roosevelt, having led the latt'er's. pre-convention cain- paig;n. in the. W^st find haying .served a? National Chairman Jame$. A.- Parley's assistant in the olectlbn camipaign. Other U. S. Senators' whO havei newspaper connections include; Cairter Glass, owner of the Lynch- burg, Va., .'News', and- 'Advance'; Arthur Capper, publisher of -the.TO- peka, kah., 'Capital' and . of several farm papers; Arthur H. Vanden- berg, owner of the Grand Rapids; Mich., 'Herald*; and Rbyal S, dope- land, of New York, syndica;te writer on health problems. Senator 'Hiiey P. Long, also Is ciredited with hold- : ing an Interest in one or two Louisiana papers. Boston Fihm Peps Up Departure of; Warren F. Gregory, as the head of Lathrop, Lee £ Shephard, the Boston book house. Will end the firm's extreme conser- vatism. Gregory goes oiit after 30 years as president of the concern, making way for Trentwell Mason White, who cOn\es over from the D. C. Ileath Co,, also Of-Boston. White's plans are to pep up the. brganization, principally by. increas- ing the. company's fiction list for adults. Hitherto the firm had spe- cialized In Juvenile reading, mat- ter, with an occasional book .for grown-ups. Althougii White was an editorial man .at Heath, he wilt not head the Lothrop, Lea & Shephard editorial, department, as did his predecessor. Instead, White is bringing in Lu- cille Gulliver froni Little, Brown as editorial head. The. new Lothrop, Lee & Shephard plans even Include moving to a location; Puns en 'Unhientionabies' When Robert Cortes Holllday wrote a: book on ladies' lingerie he didn't realize what he was letting himself in for. After 'Unjnentlon- ables' was published by Long. & Smith, the tide of comment began 'to roll In. It became a field day for bad puns by literary folks. Ills Parker Butler wrote a note in isuggesting that the publisher adopt the motto of William of Orange, '*SaevIs tranquillus in un- dies.' Irvin S. Cobb thought the book might have been called 'Lapsus Lingerie.' Burton Rascoe calls the bobk a 'unique, amusing Shandean masterpiece,' but doesn't bother ex- plaining what that is. Wall 6.t. Exposed-rAgain; New book publishing house call- ing Itself the Newcastle- Press gets started shortly to issue a general - H flt j,Qf ^bbok 6!.j_ \gilL d nclu^d efl c tion^ Sponsors ' of the Newcastle tress are. a non-active group, with A. J. Calle the working head of the or- ganization. Although no editorial head ha.s been appointed as yet, the first Newcastle book has already been decided upon. It's 'Weed.s of Wall Street,' said to he a supposjed ex- pose of stock manipulation. ^Ar- <hur M, ■\Vloli\virp Is tho auflTor. Hearst. into, Denver 7 . Denver hears rumors .that Hearst , plans to enter tpwn by purtehiase of. the Denver Post, or the Rpcky Mountain News. Post Is beihg op- erated by the Bbnflls. estate and the News is a iScrippsrHpwiard prop-- erty. Post always bbiight everything that Hearst had to sell In the .way of newspaper syndicate matter, Sunda,y comics and news services. It is reported there. have been differences as tb the . way the Post treated Brisbane's . TOday' • column,:, it being said the Post deleted cer.,' tain paragraphs ;^that boosted o ther sectlbns ' bf' the country more, 'thaiT" the'Post cared to spbnsor. This is not the first time Hearst has wanted to enter Denyer. The other time Bonflls and Tammen held the Post at around $7,000,000, and Hearst wouldn't pay It. ' Reports Say that HOarstfs me- bhanlcal superintendent has. .been in Denver cbntactlng fbr key men In thb meohahlcal departmehts and that Si deal will be closed as. spon as the Bonfils estate. settled,^ which usually takes a year In Colo- rado. Bonflls died in February last year." ick Carter's prototypes Street & Smith, which .Inaugu- rated that^' personal type:', of. flcUon mdg, widely copied by other pub^ : Ushers, getting out stUl another-^ Its . third—^along the same lines. This one bearing the title of Bill Barnes, Air Adventurer, aiid as the subtitle indicates, has tp db with air stuff. Other two mags are. Ni^^k Carter, which was; the first bf its kind, and Doc SaVage. John L. Nanovic, who. ma^de Nick Carter scpre, editing all three. . Personal type of fiction mag db- votes the lead stOry In each issue* to the same charabter. Mag In each Instance takes Its name frpm that character. By-lines on the Stories '>. are usually . pseudonyms and the property Of the publisher. Same author does not' always do every adventure of the title character, al- though the by-Jine continues regu- larly. iah Janies' Latest Back cover blurb about jllah James on the Jacket of 'Ladies In Waiting* (King, $2) epitomizes criticism when it refers to hiin as a. lending library favorite. He specializes In turning out hot romances easy to read, but not worth remembering, and those who buy books for their shelves for permanent Use pass him over lightly. His latest Is the story of a Follies girl who goes to Hollywood and. becomes .Invbly^d In a geo- metrical design rather than a tri- angle; Cohtihulty moves rapidly and holds the interest, of the ^ulck readers, who reVel in: the salty lan- guage and suggestive situations. James shows,,improvement In han- dling plot, but he's stlU shy oh the literary flavor. - March of Events Build'Up WlUiani Soskln, book critic of the New York Evening Post, has moved over to the American, which yester- day (Monday) started to carry a dally book column under his by- line. Other new cbntributors added to the dally March bf Events pa,ge in the American,: undier the editorship of B. A. Bergnian, former managing editor of the New Yorker, are Prank Sullivan, Ogden Nash, Will Cuppy and Clarence Day. Latter two . are ace magazine contributors. Little Women VogU6 Exceptional success of : the film 'Little Women', and the resultant renewed call for the book, resulting In the activity of a number of pub- ll.shers to reprint it. Copyright on the work has expired.and now 'that it is In public domain, anyone can •print it. Th** 'Little Women' sequel, 'Little 'ojH inii^d fin pMuc oTi)