NO MORE TRUMPETS—George Milburn —Harcourt, Brace ($2.50).
If Edward J. O’Brien (editor of an annual Best Short Stories] is any judge Author George Milburn is a writer to keep an eye on. Of the 18 stories in No More Trumpets, two have been printed in O’Brien anthologies. Readers who must have sentiment, romance, sweetness had best leave Author Milburn alone: his hard, realistic sketches may set their teeth on edge. Readers who like their U. S. literature homely and indigenous should enjoy his stories
An old inhabitant, joining the crowd around the stove at the village store one nipping winter day, asserts that he can remember much colder weather, to prove it tells a Munchausenish yarn about an all-night fight culminating in a double murder. One of the skeptics is still unconvinced.
The wife of a small-town garageman, whose only daughter has just died, suddenly hates her husband when she discovers that he has bought a 100-lb. sack of sugar with trade-coupons that came with her daughter’s coifin.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself—And Won
- What Kind of President Would Kamala Harris Be?
- Is Adrenal Fatigue Real?
- Why It's So Hard to Quit Vaping
- Our Guide to Voting in the 2024 Election
- The 10 Races That Will Determine Control of the Senate
- Column: How My Shame Became My Strength
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com