Manchurian Books

You must remember that his were the days before the Time took to
enterprise and the vociferous hawking of that antiquated
Encyclopedia. That alluring, button-holing, let-me
-just-tell-you-quite-soberly-something-you-ought-to-know style of
newspaper advertisement, with every now and then a convulsive jump of
some attractive phrase into capitals, was then almost a novelty. "Many
people who are MODERATELY well think they are QUITE well," was one of
his early efforts. The jerks in capitals were, "DO NOT NEED DRUGS OR
MEDICINE," and "SIMPLY A PROPER REGIMEN TO GET YOU IN TONE." One was
warned against the chemist or druggist who pushed "much-advertised
nostrums" on one's attention. That trash did more harm than good. The
thing needed was regimen--and Tono-Bungay!
Very early, too, was that bright little quarter column, at least it was
usually a quarter column in the evening papers: "HILARITY--Tono-Bungay.
Like Mountain Air in the Veins." The penetrating trio of questions: "Are
you bored with your Business? Are you bored with your Dinner.


Pages:
231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255