First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers

A compilation of the debut published stories of some of the twentieth century's finest writers features the work of Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Anne Tyler, John Updike, James Baldwin, and others

The 41 selections in this volume (43, counting very short stories by John O'Hara and Dashiell Hammett included in the preface) are the first professionally published stories by prominent American, British and Canadian writers. A few, such as Tennessee Williams's bizarre tale of revenge, offer little evidence of future literary brilliance, but most invite thoughtful comparisons with more mature works. Shirley Jackson's "After You, My Dear Alphonse" anticipates "The Lottery" in its dramatization of ingrained but unexamined cultural assumptions. Chester Himes evokes the deadly monotony of prison life, Kurt Vonnegut explores the dilemma of a scientist who wishes to use his power for peace and David Leavitt examines tensions between a mother and her gay son. Some juvenile pieces by John Cheever, Carson McCullers and John Updike focus on the callowness of youth, while others by Margaret Atwood, Truman Capote and Flannery O'Connor capture the acute loneliness and dislocation of old age. Brief but intelligent headnotes provide information about the genesis of several stories (some reprinted here for the first time) and occasionally correct misconceptions about publication history.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

``All the reasons that a writer shouldn't rush too quickly into print are on display in this collection,'' novelist Jane Smiley's introduction dauntingly informs us. Indeed, Tennessee Williams would probably cringe at the inclusion of ``The Vengeance of Nicrotis,'' which begins, ``Hushed were the streets of many peopled Thebes'' and carries on for 13 overwrought pages. Happily, most of the stories are considerably better. Some, like F. Scott Fitzgerald's ``Babes in the Woods'' and John Updike's ``Friends from Philadelphia,'' address characteristic themes that would be handled with more maturity later. Others are genuine masterpieces- -but it helps if, like Isaac Bashevis Singer, you wait until you're 49 to publish ``Gimpel the Fool.'' Margaret Atwood, Mark Helprin, David Leavitt, and Smiley herself are among the living authors who have bravely allowed their early work to see the light of day here; those who may or may not be spinning in their graves include Henry Miller, Graham Greene, and E.M. Forster. Kiernan and Moore are senior editors at the Book-of-the-Month Club. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This book takes an interesting look at the debuts of over 40 important authors. Most readers will think they know everything there is to know about these authors-who include William Faulkner, Alice Walker, and John Updike-but these early works are decidedly different from most of the classic writings. All the stories have a short preface that profiles the author and explains how the story was published. For instance, the preface to Hemingway's "In Our Time" notes that he always offered conflicting accounts of which story he published first. Though some authorities argue that "Up in Michigan" was his debut, "In Our Time"-a work that reveals Hemingway's absolute power with the art of adventure telling-has been verified as his first adult work. In a brief introduction, Jane Smiley expands on the good work done in the prefaces, suggesting how hard it is to get published and what authors have to go through to achieve that goal. Highly recommended for all libraries.
Vicki Cecil, Hartford City P.L., Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The title says it all, with authors ranging from Nelson Algren and Tennessee Williams to Margaret Atwood and Eudora Welty, and many more in-between. As one might expect, many of the stories fall far short of the quality and direction of these writers' later work, for example, the entry by William Faulkner, a piece far more reminiscent of very early (and awkward) Hemingway than the The Sound and the Fury. It's interesting, though, to see these writers at work, developing their art. Other works are closer in form and structure to the later works, such as Raymond Carver's "Furious Seasons." And a number of these stories are first-rate in and of themselves, such as Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Gimpel the Fool" and Alice Walker's "To Hell with Dying." A surprising and thoughtful collection for all lovers of the short story. Brian McCombie