Home to the He-Wolf

CALL OUT THE MALICIA (181 pp.)--John Anthony West--Dutton ($3.95).

An aversion to everyday American life drove John Anthony West to the Spanish island of Ibiza, and West's first collection of short stories may convince other Americans that they should go as far. West has a way of making American amusements seem as pleasant as murder--which would be standard fare from an angry young author were it not so hilarious. For West writes in a borderland between horror and humor that leaves a reader laughing and shuddering at the same time.

What could be more fun than a boys' summer camp? West turns it into a night mare. Camp Oo-patik-patok, the chief counselor tells his boys, is "home to the fierce he-wolf, home to the courageous howling pack." The boys are taught wolf traits, especially an ear-splitting howl; and on the last day of camp, they take turns baying at the moon, while their proud parents look on, secure in the knowledge that camp has made their little boy just like all the other little boys, i.e., as conformist as a wolf.

Don't all wives like to fatten their husbands? Yes, says West--for the slaughter. In one of his stories, wives hold a fattest-husband-of-the-year contest. The overstuffed husbands are hauled to a stadium in gaily draped trucks, then hoisted by a winch to a platform, where they are weighed in turn. For a reward, the winner is cooked and eaten by the admiring assembly.

In West's most chilling story, a man is arrested for hitchhiking in the town of Chanceyville, Ga. The poor fellow has two strikes against him: not only is he a New Yorker with an Italian name; he is an abstract artist to boot. When he can not pay the fine, the beefy sheriff orders him to draw obscene nudes. When he finishes, the sheriff stops drooling, smashes all the bones in the artist's hands and knocks him senseless. Says the indignant sheriff: "That'll teach them bastards to mess around Chanceyville gals."

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