Something in Between

Quinlan's (The Merger) tour through the Depression years is a disjointed effort, billed as a novel but in fact closer to a set of intersecting short stories, some told in the first person, some in the third. Central to the narrative is a man known only as ``Keltnor,'' a Chicago native who becomes one of the thousands of Americans traveling the country at that time in search of work and the American Dream. Keltnor's experiences-sneaking a ride on a train, sharing an illegal taxi over the Rockies-form the most distinctive part of the book. But the author leaves Keltnor for several chapters at a time to focus on immigrant families from a mostly Polish neighborhood of Chicago. Wooden dialogue and a lack of connection between stories mark these sections, with characters appearing and disappearing too quickly to make any more of a lasting impression than does the rest of this misguided work. (Sept.)