Such a book is called, for instance “You,” written by Irving R. Allen.

* * * * *

“You” takes 275 pages to divulge a secret of success.  It would not be fair to Mr. Allen to give it away here after he has spent so much time concealing it.  But it might be possible to give some idea of the importance of Mr. Allen’s discovery by stating one of my own, somewhat in the manner in which he has stated his.  I will give my little contribution to the world’s inspiration the title of

HEY, YOU!

You and I are alone.

No, don’t try to get away.  That door is locked.  I won’t hurt you—­much.

What I want to do is make you see yourself.  I want you, when you put down this book, to say, “I know myself!” I want you to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say:  “Why, certainly I remember you, Mr. Addington Simms of Seattle, you old Rotary Club dog!  How’s your merger?”

And the only way that you can ever be able to do this is to read this book through.

Then read it through again.

Then read it through again.

Then ring Dougherty’s bell and ask for “Chester.”

Now let’s get down to business.

I knew a man once who had made a million dollars.  If he hadn’t been arrested he would have made another million.

Do you see what I mean?

If not, go back and read that over a second time.  It’s worth it.  I wrote it for you to read.  You, do you hear me?  You!

If you want to know the secret of this man’s success, of the success of hundreds of other men just like him, if you want to make his success your success, you must first learn the rule.

What is this rule? you may ask.

Go ahead and ask it.

Very well, since you ask.

It is a rule which has kept J.P.  Morgan what he is.  It is a rule which gives John D. Rockefeller the right to be known as the Baptist man alive.  It is a rule which is responsible for the continued existence of every successful man of today.

And now I am going to tell it to you.

You, the you that you know, the real you, are going to learn the secret.

Can you bear it?

Here it is: 

You can’t win if you breathe under water.

Read that again.

Read it backward.

It may sound simple to you now.  You may say to yourself, “What do you take me for, a baby boy?”

Well, you paid good money for this book, didn’t you?

LV

THE CATALOGUE SCHOOL

Without wishing in the least to detract from the praise due to Sinclair Lewis for the remarkable accuracy with which he reports details in his “Main Street,” it is interesting to speculate on how other books might have read had their authors had Mr. Lewis’s flair for minutiae and their publishers enough paper to print the result.