THE BLIND BOW BOY. By Carl Van Vechten. (Grant Richards.
7s. 6d. net.) This book might well haVe a sub-title, " The Flappers' Guide to New York." It contains most of the urbanities which the boarding-school girl will need in order to , make a display of sophistication in the holidays. But this is description of the more superficial side of it. Fundamentally, Mr. Van Vechten is almost as serious a writer as Mr. Aldous Huxley, and he is apparently trying to do for America what Mr. Huxley is doing for England. Unfortunately, Mr: Van Vechten is either less imaginative or more timid than Mr. Huxley. Possibly. he is both. Through .whatever .cause,- he has in this book tried to conceal a deficiency of ideas behind rather tedious descriptions of material objects. Things which inhere in Mr. Huxley's tales, and take their proper place as useful ornaments, are raised in Mr. Van Vechten's work to the station of major interests and are set down -in lists. Books, music, paintings displayed in this manner can scarcely be counted on to liven up a tale. It is usually called padding. Incidentally Mr. Van Vechten is at- great pains to tell us that his book is not a novel but a " cartoon for a stained-glass window." It is difficult to understand the necessity for such preciosity. Is it possible that the American public has suddenly become terrified of the novel ? It should perhaps be pointed out that the reviewer has thus chosen to emphasize Mr. Van Vechten's shortcomings, rather than his virtues, because he believes that his work is worth criticizing. For, indeed, The Blind Bow Boy is a highly amusing and instructive piece.
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