Two constants in Millhauser's work— including, of course, Martin Dressier—are a fascination with children or childlike perceptions of the world, and a fascination with the fantastic and magical. Millhauser's first work, the novel Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer, 1943-54, by Jeffrey Cartwright (1972), is the story of an eleven-year-old author told by his twelveyear-old friend. His next novel, Portrait of a Romantic (1977), is also a tale of childhood, with its narrator, Arthur Grumm, recalling his early teen years. While Martin Dressier is not exclusively the tale of Martin's childhood, one could easily argue that Martin never "grows up" in any real sense. His comportment towards the world is still colored by a childlike awe and excitement, even at the very end of the novel. It is a short step from this childlike view of the world to the fantasy...