31 OCTOBER 1903, Page 23

The Odd-Job Man. By Oliver Onions. (John Murray. 6s.)— It

is to be presumed that there are many people who like to read of the sort of life depicted in The Odd-Job Man, in the beginning of which the last shifts of an impecunious and very Bohemian artist are described. But even those readers who find Percival Oddy an interesting figure cannot sympathise with his conduct in the latter half of the book. Here he makes love to the woman through whose good offices he has found the strength to rescue himself from his dire poverty ; and when he has won her heart he falls in love in twenty-four hours with a pretty face. This picture may, of course, be true to life, but it certainly does not make pleasant reading.