Civilized Novels
Curtin, Anne
Civilized Novels Vacancy on India Street, by Barbara Rex. W. W. Norton. 266 pp. $5.95. Whistle Me Home, by Michael Rubin. McGraw-Hill. 301 pp. $5.95. Reviewed by Anne Curtin Some years...
...It is a sentimental book in the best sense of touching those day-to-day responses—nearly a James Agee level of consciousness—of which life mostly consists...
...But the chief problem is the publisher's decision to save on production costs by using a small and nearly unreadable type...
...Barbara Rex's Vacancy on India Street describes upper class reaction to a Negro family moving into a Philadelphia Main Line suburb...
...Any reader will discover this, but he will probably finish the book anyway because of its intelligent, civilized qualities...
...it rings true, and it reminds us of the fact that we can't blame all social problems on the poor and ignorant...
...Reviewed by Anne Curtin Some years back, the word "civilized" was in vogue at publishers' parties...
...Whistle Me Home seems long because it lacks dramatic organization...
...In that tradition-ridden setting, it is social rather than economic fear which dictates the prejudices...
...Vacancy on India Street is an interesting story...
...Whistle Me Home by Michael Rubin is a warm story of a Negro maid in an upper class Jewish family...
...It also deals in depth with a troubled marriage, and the two subjects are too much for one book...
...It described books intended neither to shock nor disgust the reader: nice novels, childhood reminiscences, outdoorsey topics...
...But rather than emphasizing the "race problem," the book is about persons and their individual cosmic questions of right and wrong, generation against generation, the ideal versus the material...
...This is a first novel, perhaps born out of intense conviction...
...These two are civilized novels, and they are thoughtful and interesting books about social problems—chiefly race...
...Civilized Novels Vacancy on India Street, by Barbara Rex...
Vol. 31 • December 1967 • No. 12
