Van Gogh's Room at Arles Three Novellas Author:Stanley Elkin In "Her Sense of Timing," a professor of political geography paralyzed by a "degenerative neurological disease" (obviously the multiple sclerosis that also affects Elkin) tries to host a party without the assistance of his wife, who has just left him. In the book's title story, an inept associate professor from an obscure community college finds... more » himself at a scholarly retreat in Arles with some of the biggest names in academe (including a crippled geographer). Inexplicably, he has been assigned the most desirable accommodations: Van Gogh's old room. Sandwiched between these two classic Elkin works is a British tabloid parody, "Town Crier Exclusive, Confessions of a Princess Manque," clearly something of a technical exercise for an author who has built his reputation on his mastery of American idioms. This well-balanced collection stands as a worthy companion to Elkin's first three-novella set, Searches and Seizures.- Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
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