Books: 1904

THE SISTERS—Myron Brinig—Farrar & Rinehart ($2.50).

In 1904 there were iron deer on U. S. lawns, lending the last touch of grandeur to the fancy wooden scrollwork of the mansions behind them. Every home that could afford one had a "den," with leather armchair, pennants on the wall, an ashtray shaped like a skull. Lucky theatre-goers saw Ben Hur, with real horses racing madly on a treadmill track. Cars were called "au-to-mo-biles," 25 miles an hour was a devilish pace, a puncture a major accident. Against such a 1904 backdrop, Author Brinig this week...