OPINIONS AND PERSPECTIVES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Mr. Brown is editor of the New York Times Book Review and the sixty-two pieces gathered here appeared in N.Y.T.B.R. during the last 10 years. According to his introduction, he selected these reviews and essays because they constitute good book talk and center on literary matters of continuing interest. The big names in occasional reviewing are here as well as the more scholarly critics. A clutch of names will signify the range: Maxwell Geismar, Robert Graves, Joseph Wood Krutch, Lawrence Clark Powell, Elizabeth Janeway, Al Hine. The pieces are arranged under seven broad subject headings: Consider the Contemporary; American Classics; Reviews and Reappraisals (writers of the past and present, each discussed in terms of his whole body of work or influence); Points of View (authors on their own reactions to general issues); Somewhat Personal (intimate, informal essays on any number of things); The Author's Experience (authors on their own working methods or philosophy); Men and Measures (appraisals of histories and biography that emphasize evaluation standards). Mr. Brown is perfectly right; This is good, conversational, non-combative book talk.