Books in Brief

Men and Moments, by Henry J. Taylor. (Random House, $4.95). Henry Taylor is known to readers of some 165 American newspapers as a hard-hitting columnist of conservative persuasion: In this book, compiled chiefly from his non-political writings over the past five years, he reveals himself as something more: a student of life in all its aspects, a direct participant in many great events, an effective man with an historical parallel or striking fact. The essays cover face-to-face encounters with some of the – giant figures of our era, on-the-scene coverage of major happenings, reflections on art and culture, synopses of ancient and recent history. Newsman and former ambassador himself, Mr. Taylor is drawn to the versatile—Leonardo, Jefferson, Goethe, Balzac. His knowledge of men and events is prodigious, his pace is quick, his imagery vivid. An epigram he applies to MacArthur’s oratory describes his own prose to perfection: “Short sentences based on long. experience.” Which makes for good and lively reading. M. S. EVANS

Inside South America, by John Gunther (Harper, $7.95). Reading along with John Gunther is exhausting business. The names, facts, statistics, and generalities come at you like a herd of stampeding Longhorns. Anyone who can profitably handle more than a hundred pages at a stretch is a better man than I. Now Mr. Gunther has “done” ten countries of South America and the result is the usual one-third guidebook, one-third economic and political fact sheet, and one-third inquiring re- — porter. While the attentive student of Latin American affairs will probably cringe at the frequent over-simplification or the occasional error of fact and interpretation, anyone wishing a reasonably upto-date briefing on South America will probably find the book invaluable. Where else can you find out the price of fitting an intra-uterine device in Chile? Regrettably, the political slant is of the Fulbright, “the-continent-is-on-the-brink-of-revolution,” brand. Perhaps if Mr. Gunther had bothered to include a few of Latin America’s increasingly influential ! : business leaders on his lengthy list of interviewees he would have tempered his bow a bit. For those who can’t make it through the first 527 pages, much of the material is presented in tabular form in six pages at the back. J. B. BENDER

Featured Tags

Men and Moments, by Henry J. Taylor. (Random House, $4.95). Henry Taylor is known to readers of some 165 American newspapers as a hard-hitting columnist of conservative persuasion: In this book, compiled chiefly from his non-political writings over the past five years, he reveals himself as something more: a student of life in all its aspects, a direct participant in many great events, an effective man with an historical parallel or striking fact. The essays cover face-to-face encounters with some of the – giant figures of our era, on-the-scene coverage of major happenings, reflections on art and culture, synopses of ancient and recent history. Newsman and former ambassador himself, Mr. Taylor is drawn to the versatile—Leonardo, Jefferson, Goethe, Balzac. His knowledge of men and events is prodigious, his pace is quick, his imagery vivid. An epigram he applies to MacArthur’s oratory describes his own prose to perfection: “Short sentences based on long. experience.” Which makes for good and lively reading. M. S. EVANS

Inside South America, by John Gunther (Harper, $7.95). Reading along with John Gunther is exhausting business. The names, facts, statistics, and generalities come at you like a herd of stampeding Longhorns. Anyone who can profitably handle more than a hundred pages at a stretch is a better man than I. Now Mr. Gunther has “done” ten countries of South America and the result is the usual one-third guidebook, one-third economic and political fact sheet, and one-third inquiring re- — porter. While the attentive student of Latin American affairs will probably cringe at the frequent over-simplification or the occasional error of fact and interpretation, anyone wishing a reasonably upto-date briefing on South America will probably find the book invaluable. Where else can you find out the price of fitting an intra-uterine device in Chile? Regrettably, the political slant is of the Fulbright, “the-continent-is-on-the-brink-of-revolution,” brand. Perhaps if Mr. Gunther had bothered to include a few of Latin America’s increasingly influential ! : business leaders on his lengthy list of interviewees he would have tempered his bow a bit. For those who can’t make it through the first 527 pages, much of the material is presented in tabular form in six pages at the back. J. B. BENDER