Only those who keep their wit and affections about them will survive the mass conditioning of the Organization, where confusion solemnly rules and conformity is king. As in our world itself, humanity prevails in the courage, love, and laughter of singular spirits--of men and women for whom life is an adventure no Organization can quell, and whose souls remain their own.
Shirley Hazzard(1931-2016)
is the author, most recently, of the National Book Award-winning
The Great Fire. Her other works include
Greene on Capri, a memoir of Graham Greene, and several works of fiction, including
The Transit of Venus, winner of the 1981 National Book Critics Circle Award. She lived in New York City and maintained her long ties with Italy.
A brilliant comedy on a large and serious theme. The Saturday Evening Post
Places her on a high ground between Katherine Mansfield and Evelyn Waugh. The New York Times
It stings and alarms....Hazzard's strength lies in her coolness, her modesty, and her understatement. The Times (London)
The comedy, irony, and pathos generated by the conflict between bureaucratic form and human content are beautifully rendered. Dwight Macdonald