CURRENT LITERATURE.
My First Book. With an Introduction by Jerome K. Jerome_ (Chatto and Windus.)—Twenty-two authors, Mr. Jerome among them, tell the story of how their first book came to be published. It is needless to say that there is much interest in all of them, though they differ very widely indeed in temper. It is no bad test of a writer's temper to see how he relates the experiences of authorship. Mr. James Payn, for instance, is as cheerful as possible. Mr. Grant Allen, on the other hand, says, "Don't take to literature if you've capital enough to buy a good broom, and energy enough to annex a vacant crossing." Mr. Robert Buchanan takes an equally depressing view of the profession. "Literature is the poorest and least satisfactory of all professions. I can honestly say that I have scarcely met one individual who has not deteriorated morally by the pursuit of literary fame." We do not exactly know what is meant by "pursuing literary fame." Nobody pursues fame, as nobody really pursues happiness. But we question Mr. Buchanan's judgments. He seems to have been fairly well remunerated for his work, to judge from his own statements. If he made unlucky ventures in matters theatrical, I that does Snot touch the point of literary remuneration. As for
deterioration, if a writer were always to pursue fame, it might well warp his nature, but it is quite possible to be an author and an honest man.
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