Youth and the Bright Medusa

Mix a liberal dose of Opera with a pinch of Art. Add a dollop of Wall Street and season with a few wasted lives. This combination comes close to Willa Cather's recipe for her story anthology, Youth and the Bright Medusa. If one can endure the frustration engendered by Willa Cather's method of putting together a story, one will appreciate her fascinating characters and her poetic use of American English.