CAST DOWN THE LAUREL

An interesting experiment in form. A newspaper man gives his novelist friend the skeleton of a story which he thinks has possibilities of a novel, and along with it, a ""dossier"" of the characters, written in colloquial, breezy style. Then follows the story itself -- that of a musician who hitched his wagon to a star, and, discouraged at unattainment, gave up concert work for teaching, and became the Svengall of a youthful genius in the town where the school was established. Of his death, and what havoc it wrought in the girl's life. Finally, the journalist quarrels with the novelist as to his handling of the characters and the facts, and supplies a supplementary set of ""dossiers"" to round out the picture. Interesting not only from the angle of form, but a good story as well.