The Bedside Guardian 3. A Selection by Ivor Brown from
the Manchester Guardian, 1953- 1954. (Collins, 12s. 6d.) IT Is a very good thing that there should be an annual opportunity to preserve from too early oblivion so many worthwhile contributions to the Manchester Guardian. This paper's tone 'is distinctive. More urbane than the Daily Tele- iraph, it is as responsible as that of The Times. Its liveliness bears a marked northern accent, which is no less civilised for being down-to-earth. A particular merit is its wide social coverage within the formula its readers welcome, This year's topics include insomnia, Sir Thomas Beecham, the coelacanth, Billy Graham, West Bromwich Albion v. Preston North End, Bronstein v. Alexander, middle-class budgets, Indian marriage customs, and Low at home to Mr. Bevan and Mr. Molotov. The contribptors include Alistair Cooke, Neville Cardus, David Daiches, Philip Hope-Wallace, Eric James, Enid Newton, Gerard Fay, as well as many correspondents of the paper and some of its readers. The book reviews are surely as good as any newspaper can offer. And the social com- ment (I especially enjoyed an item called 'Pro- ductivity') is incisive as well as fanciful. It is plain that Mr. Brown has selected well: I understand that the Guardian is preparing a London edition. Whether, on your way to sleep, you remember Mr. Dulles struggling with Low's serpent Reappraisal, or a Michigan mayor allotting a morning half-hour for thought, or a gruesome Communist mixed metaphor about 'whited sepulchres,' or a left-luggage payment demanded with the words, 'You left a pie on that case' -- this will be an event to welcome.
Previous page
