In 1961 three different publishing houses each published a book by George Garrett on the same day: Abraham's Knife, his third collections of poems (University of North Carolina Press); In the Briar Patch, his second collection of short stories (University of Texas Press); and Which Ones Are the Enemy", his second novel (Little, Brown). This highly unusual literary event reveals both one of the major strengths of Garrett as a writer and also perhaps the primary reason that his work is occasionally overlooked in the anthologies and "best" lists that are too often the sole mark of literary recognition today. His talent, like the volume of his production, is large and varied. He is a man of letters in an age of specialization, someone who writes well in many forms and genres when received opinion (especially in - and among the graduates of - most American M.F.A...