Mr. Fast gives us a liberal mixture [of stories in "Departure and Other Stories,"] and every time you might think you have him summed up the next story will be something different again. But let it be said that he never fails to be fluently readable and that always (or almost always) he has a story to tell.

Out of these nineteen stories, though, certain groupings can be discerned. There are three, for instance, that deal with the frontier. I think it is a true accomplishment to be able to give the reader the feeling, as economically as Mr. Fast does, that he is in another time. Mr. Fast doesn't use the sort of trick common to many historical novelists: no costume description or bits of Americana. He just gives you human beings and the mood and feel of a time and place.

Another grouping that might be...