It's pleasant to recall the groundswell of excitement caused among readers by the publication of Donald Barthelme's first short stories in the 60's. There just weren't then, as there aren't now, very many stories published that you wanted to call your friends up and read aloud from; and Barthelme gave us more than a few. His openings in particular came off with a special brilliance…. The style sparkled with intelligence; it was dry and clear. All in all, Barthelme's stories were a sort of literary prediction of the rise of Perrier-and-lime in the decade to come.

But the dryness was not a fetish; he could be, and he certainly is, on rereading, not just witty but extremely funny….

T. S. Eliot once remarked on the nearness of the modern poet's craft to that of the stand-up comic. Barthelme acts on the nearness. His prose has the little hidden...