SOURCE: "Mayhem on the Mesa," in The Wall Street Journal, November 1, 1988, p. A26.

In the following review, Lescaze criticizes some of the passages in The Place in Flowers Where Pollen Rests, suggesting that much of the narrative long-windedness dulls the characters' actions.

Paul West is much concerned with the pathetic puniness of man. He also has a liking for grotesques. In his previous novel, Rat Man of Paris, his protagonist wraps his body in filthy rags, his head in infantile dreams, and walks the streets of Paris, alarming people by brandishing rats. In the end, he finds love, fatherhood and peace.

Oswald Beautiful Badger Going Over the Hill (it's shorter in Hopi), Mr. West's new protagonist, has an even harder time of things before reaching the level of self-discovery. We first meet him at the instant he realizes he has accidentally strangled Trudy Blue while performing in a...