Vjekoslav Kaleb is a towering figure among contemporary Croatian writers, one whose impressive body of work includes fifty-seven short stories and novellas, three novels (one of which was rewritten under a different title), screenplays, poems, articles, essays, manuals, and translations. Some critics believe that his place of honor among Croatian writers was secured by the appearance of two of his earliest stories: "Odlazak Perusine" (The Departure of Perusina, 1938) and "Gost" (The Guest, 1940). Actually these and several other stories, published in various newspapers and journals, did not make an impact immediately, but they soon captivated readers and critics alike in collections titled Na kamenju (On the Stone, also referred to as On Stones and On the Rocks, 1940) and Izvan stvari (Outside of Things, also referred to as Outside Things and Beyond the Affair, 1942). Many critics still consider these two volumes of short stories and novellas Kaleb's best. Readers seem...