“THAT AIN’T HAY”

Edwin courts the mysterious and sometimes terrifying Rose Dorn. A partial inventory.

Steven Millhauser, Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943–1954, by Jeffrey Cartwright (1972).

Does Steven Millhauser understand certain varieties of American childhood? Does he ever.

This passage made me think of Drake’s clickers, little toys once included in boxes of Drake’s cakes. And my goodness — there are Drake’s clickers for sale at eBay.

*

March 2: Elaine and I realized it only after reading more Millhauser: Rose Dorn’s name suggests Dornröschen, Little Briar Rose, aka Sleeping Beauty. The name turns up repeatedly in Millhauser’s fiction.

Related reading
All OCA Steven Millhauser posts (Pinboard)