Dawn Powell at Her Best

What a delight to discover Dawn Powell! This collection offers a selection of novels and short stories that bristle with well-observed details and uncanny insights. She writes with ascerbic humor about the "wanna-bes" and the "haves" in flapper society with sometimes chilling clarity. Like so many of her contemporaries, she was brave enough to make heroes of very flawed creatures indeed--and do it very well. I wanted to know more about her and read more. Discovering her makes me wonder why Dorothy Parker and Edna Ferber got all the breaks.