Because this volume includes "The Turn of the Screw," I would imagine that this may be the biggest selling Henry James entry in the Library of America complete HJ works. I would also imagine that people who don't otherwise know of James's work might be less than impressed by some of the other stories in the book. This volume focuses on two tremendously productive periods in James's career; several stories written around 1892-93 and another group written around 1897-98. The former group include some very good stories, including "Nona Vincent," "The Real Thing," "The Private Life," and "Lord Beaupre." "Private Life," in particular, is a very entertaining speculation on what happens to certain kinds of personalities when people are not around to observe them, and successfully evokes the uncanny. Of the latter stories, though, the best truly is "The Turn of the Screw." Ghost story? Psychological thriller? A reflection on the hypnagogic state? YES! The piece that originally appeared in the book publication of "Turn," "Covering End," however, is a vast disappointment. Although I have no factual evidence to support this, my guess is that this is a story based on a play that James composed (the setting is a single room in a house; most of the text consists of dialogue among the characters; it has a romantic and fairly tedious plot). Really not worth the time. The final piece, however, "In the Cage," points toward the textual style that marked James's later work: very dense prose about very minor shifts in emotion and situation; the text requires a lot of work on the part of the reader: despite all the wordiness, there are some significant gaps in what the narrator tells us and we are expected to fill them in. It doesn't entirely work as a bit of captivating fiction, but it is noteworthy as a sign of James's evolving prose style.

Unlike the author of these stories, I have no words.