RECOLLECTION CREEK

Short stories strung together on the thread of common characters and background — a year in the lives of the people in "Recollection Creek" — not too far from San Antonio. Once again, Fred Gipson's magic gives the reader a sense of folkways in tales of youth pitted against rather tenuous authority, free to roam woods and fields. Hopper Creech tells the stories, as they appeared to him- aged nine. It was a wonderful year. His cousin Jay was the sparkplug of the things that happened; Aaron Blood, a lonely bitter man who found companionship in boys who treated him like a human being, got back at his enemies when Jay suggested he race his bull in the horse ring; Hopper's pet possum took on a tom cat with dire results; raiding a peddler's wagon of fresh fruit brought its own punishment; Jay brings a wasps' nest about his own ears; and, throughout, Hopper's irresistible grandfather carries on his feud, to the death, with the giant turkey gobbler. A rather special regional flavor here with its own special charm.