26 SEPTEMBER 1874, Page 22

"B," an Autobiography. By E. Dyne Fenton. 3 vols. (Sampson

Low and Co.)—We cannot say much either for the good-taste or the

ability of this book. B," the supposed author of the autobiography, does not contrive to tell us much about himself. We part with him with but the faintest idea of what manner of man he was. But what he does make us acquainted with, is little less than revolting. He describes his father as a pompous and cruel martinet, and describes him, we may say by the way, in a style of caricature, as committing absurdities which are absolutely insane ; and then, when every one has been taught to look upon him with contempt and disgust, "B" apolo- gises for him by revealing the secret which has changed into bitterness and narrowness a disposition naturally kindly, this secret being that his wife, " B's " mother, is an incurable drunkard. Here is a pretty subject for a son to enlarge upon in his autobiography ! There are other characters in the book, some of them even ludicrously caricatured, none of them, as it seems to us, drawn with anything of reality or power.