Almost every writer surrenders to the temptation to inflate his tale with unearned emotion and significance, to rave a bit and hint at Larger Meanings. Middle-class Americans, unconcerned with the ways in which the specific historical moment has shaped a life, are particularly apt to see themselves or their heroes as Everyman; the urge to eternalize and universalize is the sign of political naiveté. That William Maxwell has splendidly resisted this impulse is his chief victory. Seldom has a story been told with more modesty and by a voice so accessible, so educated and so simple. And [So Long, See You Tomorrow] is a novel securely situated in its time (the 1920s) and place (a small town in Illinois). This story did not happen to us all; it happened to these people. The very specificity is the source of interest, for surely voyeurism is a keener emotion than...