Reading these remarkably beautiful and moving short stories, it becomes apparent why Wescott's subsequent career, successful as it was in some ways, was such a disappointment to himself and his friends, for surely, these are the stories of a writer of great promise. Those of us who live in the Midwest will also be reminded how very difficult life was even for our grandparent's generation. These stories of small town life in post-pioneer Wisconsin are told with bright, chiselled, even lapidary prose. Wescott's descriptions of nature are especially vivid and sensitive, often, as one might expect, tending to mirror the emotional states of the characters, almost all of whom are in some way cramped and stifled by the stultifying life they are forced to live. ( )