Book Notes

Over 25,000 copies of Thomas Mann's new novel, "Joseph and His Brothers," have so far been sold in Germany. Translations of it have already been arranged in Italian, Danish, Polish, Dutch and English. In this country the book will be published in the Spring. Alfred A. Knopf has just sent the manuscript to the printer, and Mr. Elmer Adler, noted typographer and designer, is at work preparing the jacket. "Joseph and His Brothers" is Thomas Mann's first novel since 1924, when "The Magic Mountain," was published.

Clara Leiser, author of "Jean de Reszke and The Great Days of Opera," just published, admits to some other amazing experiences in gathering material for the book. Following her published request for information about Jean and Edouard de Reszke, her correspondence grew to a point where she had to have a full time stenographer to handle it. Offers of marriage, free singing lessons, and invitations to collaborate on books which other teachers and singers wanted to write, poured in. One of Edouard's girl friends changed her will so that all the photogaphs, jewelry, letters, etc., that Edouard had given her, would go to Miss Leiser. Not the least of her experiences was a talk with Bernard Shaw in his London apartment, during which he sang for her, trying to show her how Jean got certain effects!

Doubleday, Doran have accepted for spring publication the manuscript of "the most horrible psychological murder story the editors collectively or individually have ever read." Its beguilingly innocent title is "Harriet," and its author is a pleasant young English-woman, Elizabeth Jenkins.

"The Bright Lexicon" is the title selected by Donald Culross Peattie for his new novel which will be published on March 23rd by G. P. Putnam's Sons. It is the story of Kyril, the Wunder-kind, from a boy to young manhood, when he discovers that knowledge cannot be translated into happiness and the oldest of human emotions recalls him to seek his destiny as have most men before him. Mr. Peattie's conception of Europe--rather the opposite of Spengler's declining West--grew out of the Riviera's fascinating cosmos of disrupted society. He sees Western civilization as an unprecedented precocity, dangerous, egotistic, brilliant and exciting--the wonder child of the ages. So the story of Kyril came to be written.