SOURCE: "Saroyan Parade," in The New York Times Book Review, February 19, 1956, p. 26.

In the following review, Peden judges the stories of Love highly uneven in quality.

Love consists of some thirty short stories and narrative sketches originally issued in magazines ranging from Story and the Yale Review to the Pasadena Junior College Magazine. This collection again illustrates the fact that Saroyan still tends to be his own worst literary enemy. The best of these stories are very good, but others are quite the opposite.

At its best a Saroyan story is a delight—fresh, vigorous and perceptive. He has always been extremely successful in depicting children; several of these pieces possess all the warmth, insight and humor which made My Name Is Aram so notable. Equally recognizable as a Saroyan type is the ubiquitous "young writer seeking material for a tale." We find this character betting his last...