31 JULY 1926, Page 17

Books about books remind us of the wise Emperor Akbar,

who Said that reading was bad for the brain. It often is M. Jean Cocteau's recently translated A Call to Order (Faber and Gwyer, 7s. 6d.) gives us mental indigestion : it is composed of essays and aphorisms which have a taste of that Perigord which is no longer sold in Paris: But for cleverness in re. porting the Frerieh have no equals, and some good specimens of the style' may be found here.