Monday, Aug. 20, 1934
Cracker Barrel
THE SECOND HOUSE FROM THE CORNER--Max Miller--Datton ($2.50).
I Cover the Waterfront established Max Miller in the hearts of a large number of his fellow citizens. He rediscovered the pull of the human interest story, the homely philosophical anecdote, the hushed heart throb. Having mastered his technique he proceeded to turn out He Went Away for a While and The Beginning of a Mortal. Now appears The Second House from the Corner, written in the same whimsical, speculative vein, with the same familiar snatches from the cracker barrel of homespun philosophy. Some of the fragments are pretty stale and moldy. Author Miller writes about himself after the manner of a daily columnist. Now he has built himself a house. He serves up 34 disconnected pieces about the new edifice and the community in which he and his wife find themselves. He fails to give the name of the town but it is plainly one of those small suburban "paradises" on the California coast.
The town Gossip goes around hoping to be the first to get the lowdown on the newcomers. The Author reflects on his new status as householder and taxpayer, wistful over old dreams of adventure, contented in his new respectability. He has a colloquy with the postman. Seeing a school of porpoises he recalls the time when as a boy he and a friend thought they had seen a sea serpent. He takes off his neighbors in a spirit of friendly fun. He relishes acquaintance with some of the local characters. There are summer visitors and uncongenial friends of his wife. He has an encounter with the local police; hears the story of an itinerant prostitute.
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