CHILDREN AND OTHERS

by James Gould ozzens ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 29, 1964

After By Love Possessed appeared in 1957, the Pulitzer prize-winning author, who had suffered critical neglect as a serious novelist during the '30's and '40's was subjected to an emotional appraisal that ranged from the rapturous to the hostile. It must have been an irritating time for him to live through, because his own position as a novelist is one of cool and careful observation. That quality is particularly apparent in this collection of 17 short stories. Almost all take place in the setting the author knows best-- the ordered world of the upper-middle class from the 1900's through the '20's. The ten stories in the first two sections, ""Child's Play"" and ""Away at School"" make up the Children part of the book. The themes developed in these stories are familiar Cozzens concerns: the conscious acquisition of and conformation to a code of decency. Since the narrators or subjects are juvenile or adolescent, the drama comes from first encounters with patterns of behavior laid down by adults and, ometimes, brutally enforced by contemporaries. In the stories under ""Away at School,"" the closed society of the private school is expertly, vividly evoked. This collection represents a major addition to a body of work more noted for its quality than its size. The bonus in readership will come from its selection by the Book-of-the-Month Club.

Pub Date: July 29, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: rcourt, Brace & World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1964

Categories: FICTION