154
PARTISAN REVIEW
The early end to his development is a central fact in his life but
it would be disgraceful and disproportionate to attribute his relatively
early death to any sort of vocational despair. There were many other
things for the Victorian humorist from Niles to despair over.
As
writers
come, he was exceptionally prosperous. His columns and the comic
strip for which he wrote the text were widely syndicated. And he
was happy in his friendships and family. Yet he did despair, but
not in public, for he wore a "mask," which Mr. Elder has not been
able to remove. Sherwood Anderson saw it come off at a party, when
Lardner was caught in an uncharacteristic social embarrassment, but
saw only a "giggling schoolboy." When one adds to the mask the long
social silences, which became one of his characteristics, we see how
remote a personality he was and that withholding the larger part of
himself was one of the conditions of both his life and work.
He looked like "Ramses II with his wrappings off" (a sportswriter),
"a wet owl" (Bud Fisher), and he had "a face like a cathedral" (F.
Scott Fitzgerald ) . "Proud," "dignified," "modest," "prudish," "decent,"
"courageous," "loving," he seems to have managed the ethics of the
situation all right. But there was another husbandry of soul involved
in his work. He largely failed the claims of art, or art failed him, and
where else could his help come from?
LIBERAL PRESS, INC.
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PARTISAN REVIEW
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80 FOURTH AVENUE
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Robert Hivnor
~..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r..r;J..rJJJ.....C
Coming in PR
SONNY'S BLUES (a story), James Baldwin
THE BREAK-UP OF FAMILY CAPITALISM,
Daniel Bell
PRIVATE EYES AND PUBLIC CRITICS,
Ralph Cohen
SCIENCE vs. SPECULATION, Sidney Hook
GRANDEUR AND MISERY OF THE
COUNT OF VILLAMEDIANA,
Gregorio Maraiion
A VIEW OF THE WOODS (a story},
Flannery O 'Connor
SAINTE-BEUVE AND BALZAC,
Mareel Proust
ORWELL RECONSIDERED, Lionel Trilling
