NINETEEN STORIES

In an acknowledgment by the author that these stories (written at intervals over the last two decades) are only by-products of a novelist's career, there is the recognition also that they will not rank with his more serious- or longer-works. That being said, there are still many in this collection which are instantaneously compelling if not permanently memorable, and almost all reveal Greene's concern with failures and outcasts, with lost and wayward lives. Three of the outstanding stories deal with children; I Spy; The End of the Party, and The Basement Room- the latter an exploration of a boy's terror in the face of adult deception and betrayal- the fear and guilt which will last a lifetime. All in their synchronization of suspense and violence hold compassion as well. On the author's name, the volume will carry to a wider market than is usual in this medium.