man who is to be admired for his daring and whose trips make very interesting reading. The story is well told, and the simpleness of its narration. makes it clear that it is free from any coloring which is intended to incite animosity.

I

"The Amateur," by Charles G. Norris. Published by George H. Doran Company, New York. $1.35 net.

'N the dedication of this book the author intimates that he is, himself, an amateur, but after reading his book we feel that if he was, at one time an amateur, his experiences have enabled him to portray more vividly and more truthfully the struggles of one starting out in his chosen profession.

The book is divided into three parts. -three, that superstitious number, which so many abhor, yet tolerate and even seek as the number to complete a certain cycle. The story deals with a young man with artistic aspirations who finds himself in a town in the far west which is unappreciative of his talents. He decides to move upon New York and with the aid of money loaned to him by a friend, he makes the journey. His arrival in New York is described with a vividness which recalls to many who have gone through similar experiences, the desolate feeling which overcomes them when they realize they are at the portals of the "big city." The remainder of Part One relates his difficulties in getting started. His frequent trips to the magazine offices and their fruitless results. The

boarding house in which he lives is de

cribed with exactness and the termi

nation of his residence there, brought about by the tragedy which also affected him later in life, all show the cruelness and unfairness to which an "amateur" is subjected.

Part Two relates that part of this amateur's life in which he has attained popularity. This popularity, which the young man thought to be success, ter

minated as suddenly as it started and Part Three finds him back where he was much the wiser for his experiences. After this downfall the amateur casts aside his profession and goes to hard work and it is only after some years that he again takes it up, this time to produce work which will be worthy of the name.

Although the story is told as the experience of one man, his individual acts and deeds, colored with a love theme, it is so typical that it would fit most any amateur and should be of much educational value to any one starting out into a profession, the success of which depends largely upon fickle, public opinion.

"The Eden Sphinx," by Annie Riley Hale, author of "Rooseveltian Fact and Fable" and "Bull Moose Trails." Published by the Author, 6 West 66th Street, New York City. $1.25 net.

"T

HE Eden Sphinx," by Annie Riley Hale, is primarily a book which argues for a better type of woman, if you please, a better mother. The first five chapters of the book are devoted to the case against suffrage. The first one, "the Nature of Woman," gives the Sanskrit and Hebrew versions of the creation. It is a sort of introduction preceding the other chapters. Following this comes a chapter on the prominent suffrage agitators since the remote ages which is developed further in the next chapter.

ing for a chapter which might be "The Male Suffragist" is the headenemy's country." The author does termed as "stepping over into the this by dividing the male suffragist into three. classes, namely, the man who believes that woman should have the ballot because he is the victim of a shrew and henpecked into his position. Another division of this first class is the man who sincerely believes "that the collective body of women

are better, finer and morally stronger than the collective body of men." The second class presented is the progressive reformer, either sociologic, economic or political. The third and last type consists of the politician who advocates the cause purely for his own selfish gains. Mrs. Hale makes this division so that she can more readily attack each one of the classes which she does without mincing her words. Her methods of attack are unique and effective.

In her last two chapters the author deals with the Feminist movement and "The New Woman." The last chapter is probably the most striking of any in her book. It might be said that the first chapters, even though they are complete in treating their individual subjects, lead up to this final summing up. It is in this chapter that the author treats the New Woman and the New Mother with great earnestness,

R. J. Lidle.