CESERT WATER

Four of these seven short stories are concerned with the special difficulties of children: nine year old Charlie, half Apache, half Pueblo, learns to adjust to life away from his village and his ancient grandmother; Mary, building her castle of blocks, escapes from the crises of her young life; a father's love reaches the boy Randy just before an act of desperation. In A Ton of Hounds, a final sharp deal pulls a businessman out of a hole he himself busily dug; a confidence man, practising his trade, revives the spirits of an entire backwoods family, in Angel in the Air; and One of Us in an example of a Negro trying to make it on white man's terms. These are simple, obvious stories but attached to the contents is a very irritating tone of deep earnestness and importance which the stories can't live up to. Desert Water proves to be a mirage.