THE SAILOR, SENSE OF HUMOR AND OTHER STORIES

by V. S. Pritchett ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

These twenty five stories, collected from American and English magazines and from an earlier volume of short stories, are more concerned with character than situation, talk and incident rather than narrative plotting. Revelations of personalities depend on events while moods and emotions are developed through fragments of colloquial conversation or observation. There are monologues -- a dentist extracting a tooth, a doctor telling of his temporary county practice, a barber capsuling a customer's life. There are sketches -- bicyclists find no inn at the end of their trip, ladies in a bar get drunk, a landlord remains in the house he has rented, a milkman institutes a new routine, men are imprisoned in bomb debris, a drunkard dies. There are completer tales- cowardice is the means of saving a marriage, a street competition discloses a theft and provides a hero, war rations result in a new relation between an antique dealer and his secretary, etc. Of special bouquet for the connoisseur these are sharp in detail, carefully styled and many faceted in their portraiture.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1956

Categories: FICTION