cover image Collected Fiction

Collected Fiction

Louis Zukofsky. Dalkey Archive Press, $19.95 (311pp) ISBN 978-0-916583-53-8

Born in New York of Russian immigrant parents, Zukofsky (1904-78) gained renown as a poet dedicated to verbal play, the poetic process and the link between language and music. These pursuits are evident in his fiction--four stories and a short novel--gathered for the first time in this volume that will appeal most to those interested in experimental fiction. Little is a humorous autobiographical novel on the early career of a violin prodigy, Baron Snorck, for which the author's son (virtuoso violinist Paul Zukofsky) provides notes and afterword. Zany and serious, the novel features Snorckie's friends, e.g., Ezra Pound, Arthur Rubenstein, their names disguised or spelled backwards (Caasi Nrets=Isaac Stern). ``Ferdinand,'' the most ambitious story, connects the hero's life, dreams and fears to his automobile driving; the experimental ``Thanks to the Dictionary'' recalls Zukofsky's major poem ``A.'' (May)