Irwin Shaw/Stories

I have read all the stories in this collection, many more than once. Irwin Shaw is now neglected. A writer of promise before the War, he was gradually seduced after the War by the money available for rather poor potboiler novels needed to maintain his expensive Swiss lifestyle. However, his short stories (largely completed by the late 1950s) are so satisfying. They range from criminals in Brooklyn in the 1930s to upper class English skiers in Switzerland. They reflect many of the primary social and international issues involving twentieth century America (Shaw was born in 1900). Shaw was never an experimental writer, but a "realist" who wonderfully describes the settings and people of his stories. His stories are plot-driven with great characterization. They are less dark than those of John O'Hara (with whom he is in some respects comparable).The few stories in this volume that don't "work" are the absurdly comic. The majority that do work are of the reactions of people to the political and social events of their times. A personal favorite: the very stylish "Man with the French Wife" involving the people of the title on a trip to France immediately post Algerian war, the husband's growing jealousy over his French wife's apparent involvement in some way with a Frenchman he sees on the street. Anyone would love these stories; you'll want more than the 60 or so in this volume.

This collection of Irwin Shaw's short stories is a wonder, from beginning to end. Stories run the emotional gamut, from sad and ironic to joyful and delightful. Shaw is a master at exploring ethical and moral delimmas in story form. It's too bad this book is now out of print, but it, or most of the stories in it, should be available in other formats.