"I wrote "The Philosophy of Disenchantment," which is, I think, the gloomiest and worst book ever published. Out of sheer laziness, I then produced a history of atheism, "The Anatomy of Negation," which has been honored by international dislike. Need I state that of all my children it is the one that I prefer?" -Edgar Saltus
"Returning to an estimate of Saltus, let us sum up by saying we have in him a temperament saturated with pessimism which expresses itself by the beautiful decoration of sinister themes. To see grandeurs in vast horrors is the last thing a commonplace person can do....

This is the saga of Madame Rosenbloom's fashionable establishment in Chicago and of the ladies in her domain. And here is the Jim Tully of "Circus Parade," the forthright Tully whose language is as frank as life itself. Tully does not pull his punches. The big men and the little ladies for whom Madame Rosenbloom's house is a social center are portrayed with vigor and honesty. The novel is crammed with incident and penetrating word pictures. It is not a story for the squeamish. But if life itself, that robust, lusty segment of life that is here so honestly and brilliantly depicted, does not...

"Fantasia Impromptu & FINIS" constitute Benjamin DeCasseres' (1873-1945) most private writing, but even then, they were intended for publication and posterity. The first is a diary-like collection of notes and reminiscences began in December 1925. The latter was professed to be "a summation of all my books, of my lifelong beliefs."
"Fantasia" Impromptu was released as a series of booklets, six in total, that constitute his "intellectual, emotional and spiritual autobiography." They are filled with ruminations on daily life, aphorisms, esotericisms, and appeals to future readers. It is...