The Man in the Street
by . New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1921. 12mo, x+271 pp. $2.00.
MEREDTTH NICHOLSON speaks comfortably to the suburbs. His ‘Man in the Street’ is essentially a commuter. He knows Fifth Avenue, but does not promenade there; keeps an eye on Wall Street, but does not traffic there; has friends on Alain Street, but lives in Landor Lane.
The ten chapters of this latest book arc pleasant discussions, good for reading aloud. In the paper called ‘Let Main Street Alone, Mr. Nicholson defines his philosophy of provincial life. He knows the mitigations and the diversities of Main Street, and the firelight in its homes. He believes in its stout idealism, and in its cordiality to the best. ‘Country men and small-town men have preponderated in our national counsels,’ he says. ‘Greatness has a way of unfolding itself. . . . If Lincoln had been born in New York and Roosevelt in a Kentucky log-cabin, both would have reached the White House.’ At passages of this sort, the readeraloud must pause, to talk the matter over.
Somewhere in the book there is an estimate of a certain man of letters who ‘told a good story and told it like a gentleman.’ We are tempted to turn around and apply the phrase to Meredith Nicholson himself. He opens a good field of discussion, and he does it like a gentleman. Whether the argument concerns democracy, or grapefruit, or the 8.27 train to town, we are sure of the friendly gravity that distinguishes the kindest humor.
Probably the most valuable of the chapters is his study of the character of his friend, James Whitcomb Riley. It is a particularly fortunate subject, particularly well managed. In memory, the Hoosier poet comes back to Lockerbie Street, and with him his friends Field and Reed and William P. Fishback and Bill Nye. The old backroom office of the Journal is peopled again with many humorous ghosts. The thing is done adroitly, with no straining for effect. In short, il it were possible to keep only one chapter of the ten in the book, we believe that this would be the one.
M. ALDEN WARE.