Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog

The "Young Dog" of the title is of course Thomas himself, and this volume of autobiographical stories by the great modern poet, who died at
39 while on his third lecture tour in the United States, shows his waggish humor at its best, his exuberance and verbal magic in spectacular display. It also shows him a spinner of tales and a creator of memorable characters. There is the grandfather who marches off in his best clothes to be buried in the next town, the sardonic "senior reporter" on a…