The Novellas of Hortense Calisher — Hortense Calisher

This Modern Library collection presents seven novellas that brilliantly showcase the range and depth of the talent of Hortense Calisher, a writer hailed by the Saturday Review as "among the most literate practitioners of modern American fiction, a stylist wholly committed to the exploitation of language." Featured is "Women Men Don't Talk About," a new story, published here for the first time.
    The novellas are characterized by their unfailing intelligence and by the technical sure-handedness and acuity of the writing. Each has a strong sense of place--New York City, the Hudson Valley, Saratoga Springs--and an eclectic cast of characters who inhabit regions where our most acute hopes, fears, and anxieties coexist. The respectable lawyer of "Tale for the Mirror" attempts to oust an unconventional Hindu healer from his community, only to wonder whether the doctor's trickery is any different from his own. In "The Railway Police," a journey by train occasions a social worker's sudden break with past pretenses and her kafkaesque rebirth as a vagabond. And in "Saratoga, Hot," a sharply observed tale set amid the fabled world of horse racing, a man and woman discover new strength in a love touched by tragedy. Included as well are "Extreme Magic," "The Man Who Spat Silver," and "The Last Trolley Ride."
    "Calisher hits at her targets at a point more vital than the usual marksman knows to exist," wrote novelist and critic Angus Wilson. And The New York Times Book Review commented, "Seen through her eyes the real world is not prosaic. Placed in lyrical, poetic spaces, it is thick and rich with implication." The Novellas of Hortense Calisher, an edition exclusive to the Modern Library, is a major collection from one of America's finest literary voices.

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