Books: Dunnigan's Wake

THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS (497 pp.) —Russell Janney—Prentice-Hall ($3).

The publishers call this novel "the publishing find of 1946 . . . the Abie's Irish Rose of publishing." They have elaborate promotion stunts all figured out: they plan to send the author on a "whirlwind" lecture tour of 60 U.S. cities, to talk on religious tolerance under the auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. They have even worked out advertising tie-ups with tobacco companies—because the book speaks favorably of smoking. They have printed 125,000 copies of the book, which they...