A VICTORIAN IN THE MODERN WORLD
By
An egotistical book of undeniable charm and brilliance, in which world affairs from 1869 to the present are only nebulous, since the author, as student, dilettante traveler, journalist and writer, keeps the emphasis of his memoirs on sex -- as the urge and the fulfillment, physical and spiritual. The enlargement of this philosophy is less entertaining than the gossip about the great and near great: Steffens, Stein -- Leo and Gertrude, John Reed, Mabel Dodge, etc., all intimates of the author. The title is subtle to the point of misleading -- if Hapgood is Victorian, in the usual sense, readers will suspect themselves of being Neanderthal Men.