Books: Much Ado About Adolescence

THEY STILL SAY No—Wells Lewis—Farrar & Rineharf ($2.50).

Readers’ first question about They Still Say No will be: How does it compare with the early novels of Sinclair Lewis (the author’s father)? Sinclair Lewis’ only child by his first wife, Wells Lewis, 21, a senior at Harvard, is a slender, sandy-haired, better-looking but less vigorous, less radical edition of his father.

A well-written story of minor moment, laid at Harvard and in Mexico (where Wells Lewis has spent the last few summers), They Still Say No concerns the sex life of a Harvard undergraduate. Hero is a tall, dapper, literary innocent named Crane Stewart. Engaged to a cautious girl named Julia, Crane harkens to the lusty bad advice of his pal Jeff, frightens Julia away in a blundering attempt at seduction. At a Park Avenue party, with a girl who is willing, luck is again against him. That summer he goes to Mexico to visit his uncle, falls in love with the daughter of a U. S. businessman, again, after listening to more bad advice, bungles the attempt.

Finally, much to everybody’s relief, a rich nymphomaniac from Manhattan takes him in hand, and Crane goes back to college with a mighty superior attitude toward freshmen.