Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English. In this essay, Aubrey considers Saroyan's story in terms of his subjective approach to his craft, the criticism this approach has engendered, and the positive effects it achieved.

In "Psalms," a piece of short, lyrical reflections on life found in his book Inhale & Exhale, Saroyan wrote, ' T wish to speak of that which moves, begins and ends, yet endures forever. Man, and the river of his life." It is this river that he explores in "Resurrection of a Life," a story that leaves a strong impression of the continuity and permanence of human life even in the midst of all its fluctuations.

The river metaphor explains in part the free-flowing form of the story. Saroyan attempts to recreate in all its sensual fullness and emotional immediacy everything that the boy thought and felt as he sold newspapers in the...