Theme for Diverse Instruments

Imbued with optimism, Rule's accomplished omnibus of 14 tales values individuality; conformity for its own sake is held in low esteem. ``My Father's House'' limns with an unerring eye the serious whimsy of children at play. Five-year-old Maly learns that boys decide the rules and ``that if she was going to be in the picture, she'd have to draw herself in.'' In ``Housekeeper,'' two women discover how complex and sometimes dark the needs of a friend can be. Perceptions are influenced and reshaped in ``A Television Drama,'' in which a woman observes with interest but without fear a fleeing bank robber apprehended on her street--until TV news cameras and her husband, whose information is secondhand, reinterpret the event for her. In ``House,'' a husband thinks he can find the good life by surrounding himself with the trappings of the middle-aged middle class: mortgaged house, financed car and multiple television sets. But his shrewd wife knows that all one requires is the courage to take chances and make extraordinary mistakes. Rule's work includes After the Fire. (July)