MANY ARE THE HEARTS

by Bruce Palmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 1961

Palmer's earlier books- Blind Man's Mark and Flesh and Blood were psychotically tainted studies in crime: these are four short, and long short, stories, straightforward in the characters they present and the stories they tell, rough to raw in some of the incidents which take place- all during the Civil War. The Butcher's Bill presents the debit of an ambulance unit made up of drunks, cowards and thieves, and the dereliction when an ambulance is abandoned- its wounded left to die. My Brother's Keeper is a variation on the Cain and Abel theme when a Southern officer in forced to kill his insubordinate nephew, fighting on the Yankee side, and attempts to clear himself- in his own eyes- and to his brothers: The Short Straw follows tragedies in the wake of the Yankee march through Georgia, and the heroism of one man after he cheats in the drawing of the straws which will permit him to stay behind on the farm- with the women and the children; and The Rooster is less sombre as a Yankee and a Rebel bunt a rooster, catch and cook him.... A man's market -- primarily- for stories which have a firm backbone and keep a stiff upper lip.

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 1961

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1961

Categories: FICTION