FROM ANOTHER WORLD: The Autobiography of

More a reminiscence of literary and artistic personalities dominating the American scene from 1912 to the near present, than a straight autobiography. The stress is on poetry, and the radical movements of the first quarter century, with the poets who brightened the intellectual and artistic life of our leading anthologist. The sketches of Amy Lowell, Elinor Wylie, Robert Frost, Rockwell Kent, Sara Teasdale, H. L. Mencken would make flawless profiles for the New Yorker. At times the record seems a tragic one with suicide and sudden death taking disproportionate toll of our brillian lyricists. But to counterbalance this, there is enough rich and intimate humor, shrewd analysis of egos, lively descriptions of editorial antics to compensate for the frustrations of some prominent individuals. In an optimistic conclusion, Mr. Untermeyer finds that only in America does ""the creative urge turn from a rendezvous with death to an appointment with life."" This book may be too tolerant and too nostalgic to please the critics, but the layman will find it a valid and entertaining portrait of a lusty period in literary achievement. Excellent for literary study groups, for school and public libraries.