The Complete Short Stories Of Thomas Wolfe

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Wolfe's death and a suitable occasion for a retrospective. Of the 58 stories in this volume, 35 have never before been collected, and one, ``The Spanish Letter,'' is published for the first time. Wolfe was not a short story writer; most of these fragments were plucked from his massive manuscripts, and many would be more appropriately classified as essay or memoir. ``The Spanish Letter,'' relating the author's visits to Nazi Germany, strongly condemns the ``poisoning'' of German culture and society by Hitler and his followers. It's a fine piece, but elsewhere Wolfe's well-known faults are conspicuously displayed. Even one of the best known of these stories, ``Only the Dead Know Brooklyn,'' now embarrasses with its inept attempt to reproduce a Brooklyn accent. The puerile ``Portrait of a Literary Critic'' and heavy-handed ``Justice Is Blind'' are equally disappointing. With all its flaws, this collection serves as a useful reminder of Wolfe's once-formidable presence and the wide influence he formerly exerted. (May 5)

Library Journal

For some readers, Wolfe's stories may yield, as James Dickey observes in his introduction, an ``imaginative surrender to whatever a situation or a memory evokes . . . a sense of life submitted to and entered.'' Others, however, may seek refuge from the viscid lyricism of Wolfe's rhapsodies in glue. Very few of the 58 items collected here were ever intended as short stories. Most are materials intended for his novels. Some are passages excerpted by his editors for separate publication; others are merely excised remnants. Published here in order of appearance as short stories (a limited asset since no dates are given), their strength lies in a sensual evocation of place, their weaknesses in ethnic stereotypes, stilted dialogue, and, curiously, a shapelessness that offends less in his novels than it does here. Arthur Waldhorn, English Dept., City Coll., CUNY