Ozick's latest work of fiction brings together four long
stories, including the novella-length "Dictation," that showcase
this incomparable writer's sly humor and piercing insight into the
human heart. Each starts in the comic mode, with heroes who suffer
from willful self-deceit. From self-deception, these
not-so-innocents proceed to deceive others, who don't take it
lightly. Revenge is the consequence--and for the reader, a
delicious if dark recognition of emotional truth.
The glorious novella "Dictation" imagines a fateful meeting
between the secretaries to Henry James and Joseph Conrad at the
peak of those authors' fame. Timid Miss Hallowes, who types for
Conrad, comes under the influence of James's Miss Bosanquet,
high-spirited, flirtatious, and scheming. In a masterstroke of
genius, Ozick hatches a plot between them to insert themselves into
posterity.
Ozick is at her most devious, delightful best in these four
works, illuminating the ease with which comedy can glide into
calamity.
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