Books: Fleeing Dutchman

DAYS OF OUR YEARS—Pierre van Paassen—Hillman-Curl ($3.50).

In the dead eddy of time after the War, a young Dutch ex-divinity student and soldier named Pieter Antonie Laurusse van Paassen found himself in Canada bouncing from job to job. He wrapped department store parcels, peddled magazines, delivered milk, fired locomotives, collected streetcar fares, worked on a blasting gang in gold mines of the Big Dome. Every time he tried a new job, he quickly decided he had missed his calling. Finally, by shutting his eyes and putting his finger down on a list of vocations ranging from accountant to sausage maker,...