Show Even This Man With Passionate Desire for Truth T u Confuses Issue By BEN SALMEN SON This bo bool bool- of Elser's Frank B. B Is Is' the story of a newspaper man who had a passionate desire to tell the truth writes Harvey OHI O'Higgins gins on the the front flap of The Keen Desire We Ve credit Mr 11 O'Higgins with the same desire but marvel at the peculiar construction construction con con- placed place on pa the passionate desires of Martin Lavery an adolescent college boy whose in interestS In- In it t seems are much more closely linked with women and hard drink drink not noi that the latter are in any way less than admirable True Lavery gets fired from two newspaper offices for speaking hs his mind to the editors but other newspaper newspaper newspaper news news- paper men meI men chaps haps chaps with no particular lar talent for telling the truth truth truth- have had the same good fortune and lived happily after never once being beIng being be be- ing accused o ol martyrdom m. m What O'Higgins mistakes for a high sense of oJ honor turns out on closer examination to be by a a. commendable desire for foi applause Martin La Lavery as Is la common with budding literary geniuses In the colleges quite naturally construes bad boy thoughts for Intellectual and artistic artistic artistic artis artis- tic endowment What our prodigy desired was to expose the rottenness rottenness rottenness rotten rotten- ness in the existing core of society then be hung by the neck until quite dead but not too dead to appreciate ate what was going on while his best girl shed tears then be eulogized eulo cub eulogized by succeeding generations as asa asa asa a great e exponent 1 of ot Truth and fi finally finally fi- fi nally get elect elected d to the Hall of Fame while his erstwhile editors lay In obscure graves In short the martyr complex and the adolescent yearning for Greatness An example of ot Laverys Lavery's self con thoughts and straining for effect effect- In the coarse of being fired Youre acting funny Lavery Laven said Lemp Just what's on your mind This said Martin 1 Squeezing the guts out of everything and presenting presenting pre pre- pre what's left as truth Its It's cheating lying Its It's the stuff stutt you OU deleted cheaters thrive on Lemp stepped forward his arm Cut he said raised Cut that the matter you drunk If you dont don't like the way this papers paper's run get the hell off it Do you hear that tha t I wanted to beat you to that thai said Martin Im sorry I 1 wanted to pull a cheap line fine You spoiled it I wanted you to fa shout Youre fired and I wanted to laugh faugh and say Too late I resigned I should have havo phrased it better but that was the way it would have gone There are passages in the book bool which approach fine writing particularly particularly par par- in the the chapter devoted to Laverys Lavery's big drunk scene But Buton Buton Buton on the whole the Juvenile thoughts of Lavery La become a trifle tedious by undue emphasis Boni Liveright Liveright Live Live- right New York |