Country Lawyer and Other Stories for the Screen

In the 1940s Warner Brothers commissioned William Faulkner to write three story outlines that would eventually be expanded into screenplays by others. Now published for the first time, the three narratives show not only the adaptable creativity of the Nobel laureate, but also his ability to translate his Yoknapatawpha material to the Hollywood milieu. Readers of Faulkner's fiction will recognize the genealogy and interracial friendships of the Southern families in ""Country Lawyer,'' and the central female character in ``The Damned Don't Cry'' foreshadows Temple Drake, the celebrated protagonist of Requiem for a Nun. The third story, ``The Life and Death of a Bomber,'' reflects Faulkner's commitment to participatory patriotism during World War II. These stories' greatest significance is the insight they provide into Faulkner's fictive design and complex plots. (May 30)