Book has notes of various types at the end

A volume of James short stories is always a good idea, but this is a particularly good idea: Kermode selects stories that focus on the writing, and writers, of fiction, from the early "Author of Beltraffio" to the late-ish "John Delavoy." The stories are uneven, but that's not surprising; the title piece, "The Middle Years," and "Lesson of the Master" are works of such brilliance that it would be absurd to expect a bunch of them. "Beltraffio" suffers by comparison with "Lesson of the Master," which is far more intelligent and enjoyable; similarly, "The Next Time" comes right before "Figure," and can't come close to matching up. The only real dud is "Death of the Lion," which probably could have been as short as the title (no plot spoilers needed, then) and still worked as well as it does.

As much fun as the stories are to read, though, this volume works best on the intellectual level. They form almost as clear an aesthetics as the prefaces or the essays; each one tries to think through what it means to be a writer of serious fiction. What about a young writer of it? An old one? A successful one? An ignored one? A writer oppressed by social success? Or by its lack? A writer who wants to be serious, but can't help turning out popular books? Or vice versa? What should the family of serious writer expect, and how much suffering can they be expected to put up with?

As we go on, the view becomes increasingly bleak (if you think the serious author should also be commercially successful), or hopeful (if you think she should ignore the public and just try to write something beautiful).

There's also a very tempting biographical reading here: each story demands that the serious writer give up more than the previous story demanded. As James got older, did he feel himself sacrificing more and more to his work? Insert stuff about James and homosexuality here. ( )