Resurrectionists

At 26, Working is the youngest winner of the Iowa School of Letters Award for Short Fiction. This collection of eight stories, although uneven, proves that he is a writer to watch. His style is reminiscent of the early Paul Bowles, with the same muscular use of language, the same ability to create a mood fraught with tension but without the sexual imageryWorking is restrained in this respect. Although some of his stories lack focus, seeming to wander off and vanish without resolution, two tales are standouts. In the title story, Dale Rossin, a photojournalist, visits Haiti as a tribute to his dead wife; she spent two years there and was profoundly affected by the experience. As he tries to come to terms with his grief, Rossin is struck by the beauty, horror and strangeness of an alien culture. In ""The Monkey,'' the narrator and his two brothers, one of whom is an epileptic, move with their parents to the edge of the Mojave Desert. The three boys befriend a neighbor's pet monkey, whose death leaves them uncomprehending and dismayed. (March)