Customer Reviews

A Curtain of Green

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This is a collection of 17 short stories, with characters ranging from poor white trash and decayed gentry to traveling salesmen and musicians. Most of the settings are in small towns in Mississippi, apparently during the 1930s, although one story seems to be set in New York City. Most of the inter-city transportaion was by train, people had radios (if they had electricity), roads were unimproved, and many people were scratching to get by.

The stories in the book range from humorous to somewhat surrealistic. Most have dialogue between characters, but others seem to be narrative accounts. As in most collections, readers will like some stories better than others. Readers should be aware that the stories reflect social structure and language of the time period, e.g., some stories use the N word.
Some readers may find some of the stories offensive.

I particularly liked stories like "The Petrified Man," which is set in a beauty salon and could be used for a short stage play. It should be noted that Katherine Anne Porter wrote the introduction to this collection of short stories.