Robert F. Young published frequently in major markets from the 1950s to his death in 1985. Disney even optioned film rights to one of his books. However, probably because he wrote few novels, he was never widely known. His better stories, many collected here, captured a deep sense of nostalgia and winnowed a glimpse of true love from mere obsession: a mountaineer must redeem his life by scaling a miles-long artifact shaped like a woman; a little boy attempts to return from a bleak city to the idyllic country of his memory; a mysterious wanderer transforms the lives of a struggling family during the Great Depression. In his introduction, Barry N. Malzberg brings to light some of the fascinating contradictions of this author, whose lean, elegant prose and poignant, though guarded, romantic sensibility deserve to find a wider audience.
[Two stories from this collection, "The Dandelion Girl" and "What Bleak Land," have been among the highest-rated stories for several months.]