Hypocritic Days & Other Tales

Woolf (1922-1992) has always been a writer's writer, his work available mainly in limited editions. Few moviegoers took note that Harry and Tonto was based on his novel Fade Out. Ignoring current fads, Woolf can make a story out of nothing, then take it nowhere. Opening pages intentionally lead readers astray; often we never learn reasons behind a character's actions. He tackles language in painstakingly measured strides, recording meticulous details, such as his description of a woman's ``large green eyes which fear had made larger and deeper.'' He zeros in on marginal lives, such as a couple expecting their first child who exist on cat food and income from selling their blood. Ruminations, not action, are Woolf's forte; he delights in depicting stagnant relationships. A suburban man still enraptured by his wife's body after 15 years of marriage is described as ``uncommon''; and by the end of this brief story the complacency and the marriage are dissolved. ``In a world of busy talkers, it seemed to him that he was the only audience left,'' the narrator of an early novella says. Finally with this ample posthumous volume, Woolf's audience has a chance of catching up with him. (Jan.)