02576cam a22003253u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003701000130007804000110009104100170010205000070011910000370012624500510016326400510021430000470026533600260031233700260033833800360036450000310040050801930043152013990062453400760202365300150209985600740211485600430218899900190223174748UtSlPG20260610134730.0mcr n260607r20241924utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  a24029875  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aCabell, James Branch,d1879-195810aStraws and prayer-books; dizain des diversions 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2024  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  aRelease date is 2024-11-16  aCharlene Taylor, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)  a"Straws and Prayer-Books; Dizain des Diversions" by James Branch Cabell is a literary work that seems to blend essay and narrative, likely written in the early 20th century. The book delves into themes of the artistic process, exploring the motivations behind writing, the nature of fictional worlds, and the relationship between the author and the reader. Central figures in the opening passages include John Charteris, a character who expresses frustration over being a minor character in what he believes should be the author's narrative, setting up a meta-conversation about the role of the author and the nature of storytelling.  The opening of "Straws and Prayer-Books" introduces us to a dialogue between the narrator and John Charteris, who feels overlooked as a character in the narrative. This conversation leads to musings on the purpose of writing and the author's motivations, suggesting that the act of writing is often a means of entertaining oneself rather than the audience. As they contemplate the essence of literature, Charteris critiques the common perception of authorship and questions the significance of why stories are told. The dialogue is humorous, philosophical, and reflective, serving as a prelude to exploring the broader implications of art, storytelling, and perhaps even the existential nature of creation itself. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cUnited States: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1924  aAuthorship4 uhttps://archive.org/details/strawsprayerbook0000cabe/page/n5/mode/2up40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74748  c115473d115473