IN THE BRIAR PATCH

A sheaf of short stories from the little magazines (Garrett's novel- Which Ones Are The will appear on the Little, Brown-A.M.P. list at about this time) have for the most part southern and simple settings, deal with a world of children, misfits, vagrants, and are calibrated to small incidents which point up a larger truth. In the title story, a colored maid is as much the victim of her employers as her no- good lover who does her wrong; in The Test depression youngsters dive for treasure in a cave and learn the measure of their responsibility in the tragedy to follow; in The Confidence Man a middle- aged spinster is knowingly, willingly gulled; a new highway brings the promise of a new life for a one-legged veteran, but destroys his old; etc., etc. Garrett's earlier collection- King of the Mountain appeared in 1958 (Scribner) and his stories, while perhaps not quite strong enough to attract more than a minority interest, show a tender feeling for people of all kinds, a true touch and a manifest talent.