Prettyfields: A Work in Progress, the Man Who Cultivated Fire and Other Stories

by Gerald W. Haslam, William Eastlake

Book by Gerald W. Haslam, Eastlake, William

85 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[zunggg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much a work in progress, like it says in the title. This is really five sketches towards a larger work which I assume Eastlake gave up on (it was his last published fiction). The action takes place in and around — mostly around — the author's prep school in the 30's, and we're treated to lots of his trademark wise-ass back-and-forth dialogue, but this time in the mouths of well-off boys rather than Navajo or GI's. The scenarios are framed by the madness and committal of the Creative Writing teacher, Miss Coca, and the ancient (Civil War vet) Whitmanesque school doctor, and we get glimpses of the Depression and the troubles ahead filtered through the halcyon haze of privileged boyhood. It's fine as far as it goes, worth seeking out for fans of Eastlake.

I read two of the six Gerald Haslam stories published "back to back" in this volume and hated both of them.