WITHOUT FEATHERS

Our most successful literary humorist in his second collection of satiric blips. Less hyperthyroid than Getting Even, it still has much of Allen's rocking stand-up rhythm. And Allen continues to extend his range and technique. Consider his version of Scripture (God to Abraham re Isaac: ""Doth thou listen to every crazy idea that comes thy way?""), and virtuoso riddling of Yeats/Joyce scholarship in the explication of a masterpiece titled ""Beyond Ichor"": ""Civilization is shaped like a/ Circle and repeats itself, while/ O'Leary's head is shaped like/ A trapezoid."" And there are detective tales, a bestiary (""The Nurk"" refers to himself in the third person such as ""He's a great little bird, isn't he?""), psychic phenomena and more and more.