Literature and Theater of the States and Regions of the U.S.A ed. by Clarence Gohdes (review)

82 Western American Literature in the unique syllabary devised by the famous Cherokee teacher Sequoyah. In these writings they often found detailed instructions for the proper pro­ cedures for acts of magic for a surprisingly large scope of causes and effects. It is these arcane incantations that they have brought together in this book, which may well comprise the most exhaustive study of this culture factor within any one tribe. While similar researches have been published about numerous groups of primitive people, in none of them have I found such a large range for the uses of magic. What makes this work the more valuable is that it was not done by an “outsider” but by members of the society itself. The Kilpatricks can scarcely be considered practitioners of sorcery since they are well educated persons completely integrated into the ‘‘white man’s” or what I prefer to call the European-American culture. But they have retained sensitivity to the culture which they have inherited and respect for it as well. What is more, they have been serious students of the Cherokee language, archaic as well as contemporary, which has made them most qualified to translate these incantations correctly. The book, then, well deserves the attention of students of this all too often badly interpreted culture factor, but many readers may find themselves disappointed in it because it is not a profound (should I say scientific?) study nor is it what the publisher would have us believe—a book of translations “exceedingly beautiful, filled with the flight of birds and the dazzle or gloom of colors.” No doubt it is somewhat my fault that I was disappointed in this latter regard, but I think it is also the fault of the authors as well. One would not expect the discipline of an anthropologist from artists, but on the other hand if they found the original incantations filled with “vaulting nobility,” they failed to bring this quality into the translations. Because I know how sen­ sitively and poetically Mr. Kilpatrick can write and the reputation he has achieved in the fine arts and of the honor given him by the Cherokees as an able interpreter of their literature, I had expected that he could make me understand why he believed these magical charms contained “precious gifts for all men” and “the peace that comes from an ancient wisdom.” He didn’t. Charles Eagle P lu m e, Allenspark, Colorado Literature and Theater of the States and Regions of the U.S.A. Edited by Clarence Gohdes. (Durham: Duke University Press, 1967. 276 pages, $10.) More than six thousand titles are included in this checklist of books, chapters, articles, pamphlets, and monographs, all of which deal with the Reviews 83 history of local literature or theater. The volume should prove a welcome tool to scholars engaged in researching the literary and theatrical activity of a particular state, possession, or region as well as to those who seek only a general understanding of the cultural background of an area. Titles are arranged in an efficient and usable order. The major group­ ings are according to geographical boundaries. Thus the book treats the fifty states, the Canal Zone, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Less well-defined areas also treated are New England, the Middle West, the Northwest, the Southwest, and the West. Readers are cautioned to look in both the specific and the more general listings to find particular titles since items are not usually double listed. Two appendices are also in­ cluded which contain bibliographical listings dealing with “the Western” and with “Regionalism.” Within each major grouping items are listed separately as either literature or theater and arranged alphabetically. Since this book is designed to satisfy a need not met by other volumes, there has been no attempt to include items already compiled in other lists. Therefore, not included are: lists of theses and dissertations; works dealing with individual writers, producers, actors, etc.; items relating to children’s theater; production lists of plays presented in colleges and universities; and similar materials covered elsewhere. One item which might have been in­ cluded in a separate appendix would be a...