THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES, 1952

A successor to the noteworthy O'Brien collection- and one with a wide range in point of view, types of characters, plot situations which present a broad cross section of the American literary scene. Competent old timers like Kay Boyle, Mark Van Doren, William Saroyan rub shoulders with talented new comers, introduced by the ""little magazines"". The general tenor indicates concern with the more lasting values rather than the trivia of everyday. To highspot three:- in Wood Smoke Ann Chidester writes of a businessman who questions his materialistic way of life; in The Climate of the Family, by Nancy Chaikin, a young woman realizes the strength of tradition behind her living; in Yoneko's Earthquake by Hisaye Yamamoto, a young Japanese-American is brought to grips with herself. A rich collection.