Books: Victorian Valentine

SUNDOWN (82 pp.)—M. A. DeWolfe Howe—Little, Brown ($3).

In a pleasant garden on Mt. Desert Island off the coast of Maine, a rosy old man sat tootling on a recorder. "I'm not really musical," he explained to a guest, between puffs, and proceeded to prove it with a squeaky rendition of Finlandia. Suddenly he blew a sour note. "Oh, thunder!" exclaimed Mark Anthony DeWolfe Howe. "That makes me so angry!"

Too Comprehensible. As a rule, Musicmaker Howe is far from angry. One of the last of Boston's gentleman-writers—he was the reputed model for Horatio...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!