Description

"This creativity of Elkinis sneaks up, tickles, surprises, shocks and eliminates. It creates stories which are life-threatening funny."—The Ny TimesThese nine stories show a stunning number of subject material and styles, shades. Included in this are a few of Stanley Elkin's best, such as the fabulistic "On the Area, Widespread," the farcical "Perlmutter in the East Pole," and the stylized "A Poetics for Bullies." Regardless of the variety of the form and subject, all these tales stocks Elkinis nimble, witty, antic creativity, a commitment to the worthiness of form and language, and an issue with just one concept: the heartbreaking drawback of the basic reaction to existence.