SOURCE: Weaver, Gordon. “Allen Learst's Stories.” Literary Review 43, no. 1 (fall 1999): 77-9.

In the following essay, Weaver praises the lack of sensationalism and melodrama in Allen Learst's “A Sheet, a Clothesline, a Bed” and “Shadowboxing.”

Vietnam and its aftermath for those who experienced it has produced what can almost be called a fictional sub-genre, most of which is pedestrian, if not forgettable. One temptation for the writer embracing that topic is to wallow in the gore a sophisticated reader is already too familiar with from more popular entertainments. This can lead to sheer melodrama, wherein the author overcharges the language used to present an already emotionally charged experience. Another potential pitfall lies in the attendant politics surrounding the subject. This can undercut such a fiction with a blatant theme or themes, and result in didacticism and easy ironies. First-rate writers within the tradition—I think of Crane, DeForest, Hemingway...