Books: Last Plays by G.B.S.

BUOYANT BILLIONS, FARFETCHED FABLES & SHAKES VERSUS SHAV (138 pp.)—George Bernard Shaw—Dodd, Mead ($3).

The U.S. public was invited to a remarkable but somewhat melancholy show —the farewell appearance of the Daring Old Man on the Flying Trapeze, the one & only George Bernard Shaw, performing without a net (also juggling, card tricks, and monologues for all occasions).

Once, Shaw used to fly through the air with the greatest of ease, from drama to politics and back, followed by the spotlight he loved and accompanied by the rolling drums of Shavian wit—which sometimes would be mistaken for the thunder of truth. But in...