cover image Never Say Goodbye

Never Say Goodbye

Phyllis Rose. Nan A. Talese, $18.95 (144pp) ISBN 978-0-385-41692-4

Judicious selection and graceful arrangement mark this slim collection of essays, allowing Rose ( Jazz Cleopatra ) full range of voice. Considering the seductions of shopping (the volume is named after a favorite secondhand store) or the moral value of a college education, Rose, who teaches literature at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, offers idiosyncratic, authoritative ruminations that, while sometimes generalizing from specifics, never overreach. Firmly grounded in details--from the description of a restaurant meal in ``Of Shared Memories,'' readers could recognize the writer's mother on the street or in a conversation--and devoid of sentimentality and facile irony, the previously published essays (many from the New York Times ``Hers'' column) are grouped by setting: New York, France and New England. Passionate, witty and generous, Rose's observations reveal a writer of warmth and conviction. (Feb.)