Book excerpt: CONTENTSA FIRST WORD 5PART I NEW LONDON 8I. ON BRIGHT OLD THINGS 8II. ON CALLING NAMES 14III. ON KEEPING YOUR HAIR ON 20IV. THE COWARDICE OF COCKTAILS 28V. GATES AND GATE-CRASHERS 37VI. THE UNPSYCHOLOGICAL AGE 46VII. THE TRUE VICTORIAN HYPOCRISY 53VIII. MARRIAGE AND THE MODERN MIND 60PART II NEWER YORK 67I. THE AMERICAN IDEAL 67II. A PLEA FOR PROHIBITION 74III. WHICH IS THE GOVERNMENT? 77IV A MONSTER: THE POLITICAL DRY 81V. BERNARD SHAW AND AMERICA 89VI. THE CASE AGAINST MAIN STREET 94VII. THE CASE FOR MAIN STREET 102VIII. THEY ARE ALL PURITANS 113IX. SKYSCRAPERS 121X. AND WHAT ABOUT THE QUAKERS? 125XI. ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN LONDON 130XII. UNKNOWN AMERICA 135XIII. WHAT OF THE REPUBLIC? 140XIV. RETURN TO THE VISION 150PART III OTHER ESSAYS 159I. THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE IN LITERATURE 159II. THE MIDDLEMAN IN POETRY 172III. SHAKESPEARE AND SHAW 181IV. BERNARD SHAW AND BREAKAGES 186V. THE POPULARITY OF DICKENS 191VI. MAGIC AND FANTASY IN FICTION 195