The William Saroyan reader is the most complete and generous sampling of the first half of an indispensable American writer's career. Here is the vintage Saroyan of the 1930's and early 1940's, the period during which the short story writer ("The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze"), playwright ("The Time of Your Life") and novelist (The Human Comedy) achieved a critical and popular success comparable to F. Scott Fitzgerald's during the 1920's. The selection has the added distinction of having been edited, introduced and annotated by William Saroyan himself, in effect comprising the writer's own mid-career overview of the best of his work.
