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The man known as "EvilWaldo" (but whom I call Dave, because that's his name and I'm a jerk like that) decided I've had it too good so far, so he skimmed the list and landed on the first book we've drawn for which I'm not finding a lot of supporting material. In fact, until a few weeks ago, the only online copy was missing several pages, which didn't bode well. Well, my source was fixed just in time for what may be my first penalty round. Dig this, if you will (filed in the original list under "The Summer's Miscellany", a catchall category for "we don't know what to call it, either"):

Waters That Pass Away. By N. B. Winston. New York: G. W. Dillingham Company. $1.25.

This book is of rare interest to people attracted by the study of the formative influences of the human heart. Mr. Winston, whose discernment is rational and whose treatment is as artistic as it is consistent, has written from the depths of the highest possible realization of the true greatness of the human heart. "Waters That Pass Away" will touch most anybody who is at all sympathetic with heart influences. At the same time the author intends his work to stand for the truest moral nobility and for the conscious mastery by humanity of the problems that have so long essayed to unite head and heart into concerted harmony of action.
--New York Times, June 24, 1899.
Mister Winston. Remember that as I run through this pull-quote from the publisher's ad.
"The author of Waters That Pass Away, is a Southerner, whose sex is not to be determined from the name standing upon the title page or from the story itself. There are some things which indicate that the writer is a man and, on the other hand, there are touches that seem to be distinctively feminine..... Each reader will have the pleasure of attempting to solve this mystery for himself; and whether he succeeds or not will have the pleasure to be derived from a well-told story."
--Philadelphia Inquirer.
See? It's a sales angle! You don't know if it's a man or a woman! The suspense is killing me! No, not "killing me"...what's that other thing? Oh yes, "making me scowl in disgust at how ridiculous using this as a promotional angle is".

Let me put you out of your misery. The N is for Nannie. Miss Nannie B. Winston, possibly the same N. B. Winston who was Vice-Regent of the Old Dominon chapter of the DAR...that much I found out (I think...corrections are more than welcome). I love how the Times assumed a Mister out of N. B. Winston, as if gurlz weren't allowed to have initials. You give those chicks a monogram, next thing they'll ask to vote, and wear trousers, and--God forbid--pee standing up! It's like cats wanting to be dogs, I tell ya!

Now that we've gotten that bit of low comedy out of the way, let's see what other reviews the publisher dredged up.
"Waters That Pass Away is one of the rare books that emphasizes notably the true greatness of the human heart. It is written from the depths of the highest possible realization and expressed with an eloquence that touches one irresistibly. It stands for the truest moral nobility, for the conscious mastery by humanity of the problems that have so long essayed to unite head and heart into concerted harmony of action. It is written by N. B. Winston, to whose quality of discernment and rational application it does rare honor for its artistic consistency."
--Boston Ideas


"There is a deep lesson of life to be learned from a book like this, and in it one may study character, and the infallible trend of social consequences, sorrow ever following sin, and sin in its turn yielding to joy when true repentance follows after." --Philadelphia Item

"The author has achieved an interesting problem novel in Waters That Pass Away."
--The Mirror, St. Louis.
In other words, get ready for some world-class suffering. Gee, THANKS Dave.

And now, our sources...um, source.
  • Google Books has posted the only web copy (originally from the NY Public Library), which wasn't all there until a recent rescan. Because it looks like this book was scanned "non-destructively"--that is, this rare library copy wasn't chopped up and fed through a high-speed automatic scanner--you can occasionally see the fingers of the person running the machine on the edges of some pages and, even more disconcerting, fingers which were filtered out...along with small bits of the text. (To see the human touch in action, flip to the two images following p. 281...that's a picture of the page actually being turned.) Still, all the pages are there, which means I've got something I can work with, and the blanked-out bits (all in the early chapters) are usually small enough to be read around.
Since this time I'm going to have to type in my quote blocks instead of stealing them from a plain text alternate (oh, the tragedy!), any questionable transcriptions I'm compelled to make will be bracketed.

Hang in there, gang! The new adventure begins soon!

Links to the spoiler-laden chapter recaps (links go live as they're posted):
Book I: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. (with a Halftime Report)
Book II: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
And the Post Game Wrap-Up.

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