This is the most complete and generous sampling of the first half of an indispensable American writer's career. Here is the vintage Saroyan of the early 1930's and early 1940's, the period during which the short stroy writer, playwright, and novelist achieved a critical and popular success comparable to F. Scott Fitzgerald's during the 1920's. The selection has the added distinction of having been edited, introduced and annotated by Aram Saroyan himself, in effect comprising the writer's own mid-career overview of the best of his work.