Dream Palace

A dozen long dramatic monologues in the style of Robert Browning make up Morris's stunning second collectiona quantum leap above his notable 1983 debut, Peru. Rich in emotion and insight about the workings of the human soul, they build to operatic dimensions from small, suggestive premises, notably a snapshot of ""My Parents on Their Honeymoon'' and a family portrait of the poet, his older brother and their parents taken on the ``Boardwalk'' in June of 1921. ``The Park Hotel, Munich, 1907'' explores the psyche of Freud, who describes fainting spells brought on by a repressed homosexual attachment to Wilhelm Fliess. ``Sackets Harbor, 1866'' is the tale of a spinster caught between her betrothal to a sailor who has abandoned her for the sea and her forbidden love for ``the boy who cuts the trees for Poppa.'' Their common thread is Morris's evocation of the need for every human spirit to dream: the ``dream palace'' that resides in each of us. Dream Palace is poignant, haunting and beautifully realized in every way. Rights: Harper & Row. January