cover image Star Cafe and Other Stories

Star Cafe and Other Stories

Mary Caponegro. W. W. Norton & Company, $8.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-393-30791-7

``Sebastian,'' a quirky novella, outshines the three stories in this collection--a Chinese fable ``ultimately jejune and Western in its effects''; the tale of a college coed's seduction; and a coming-of-age melodrama. ``In the stories . . . the author's ambition overmatches her craft,'' said PW. ``However . . . `Sebastian' is a sharply focused psychological portrait of a self-possessed Englishman.'' (Aug.)