(portrait); 63 ('06): Nov., p. 79;
78 ('14): Nov., p. 10 (portrait only).
Bookm. 16 ('03): 438. (Portraits.)
Craftsman, 14 ('08): 2 (portrait).
Critic, 46 ('05): 296 (portrait), 366.
Cur. Lit. 37 ('04): 28; 52 ('12): 682. (Portraits.)
Dial, 28 ('00): 192.
Ind. 90 ('17): 34; 91 ('17): 19. (Portraits.)
McClure's, 24 ('04): 109 (portrait), 217.
Nation, 70 ('00): 164; 104 ('17): 84.
Outlook, 64 ('00): 413; 78 ('04): 283 (portrait).

+(Newton) Booth Tarkington+--novelist, dramatist.

Born at Indianapolis, Indiana, 1869, of French ancestry on one side. Came
early under the influence of Riley (q.v.), a neighbor. Educated at
Phillips Exeter Academy, Purdue University, and Princeton. Honorary
higher degrees. Popular at college for his singing, acting and social
talents. Began to study art but was not successful as an artist. Has
written songs. Takes an active part in the social and political life of
his state. Served in the Indiana legislature, 1902-3.

SUGGESTIONS FOR READING

1. Consider separately Mr. Tarkington's studies of boy life (especially
_Penrod_), and of adolescence (especially _Seventeen_ and _Clarence_).
Judged by your own experience and observation, are they presented with
true knowledge and humor, or are they a farcical skimming of surface
eccentricities? Compare them with Mark Twain's books about boys and with
Howells's _Boy's Town_.

2. Consider separately the historical novels. Is pure romance Mr.
Tarkington's field? Why or why not?

3. Consider the justice or the injustice of the following:

According to all the codes of the more serious kinds of fiction, the
unwillingness--or the inability--to conduct a plot to its legitimate
ending implies some weakness in the artistic character; and this
weakness is Mr. Tarkington's principal defect.... Now this causes
the more regret for the reason that he has what is next best to
character in a novelist--that is, knack. He has the knack of
romance, when he wants to employ it: a light, allusive manner; a
sufficient acquaintance with certain charming historical epochs and
the "properties" thereto pertaining...; a considerable experience in
the ways of the "world"; gay colors, swift moods, the note of tender
elegy. He has also the knack of satire, which he employs more
frequently than romance ... he has traveled a long way from the
methods of his greener days.