The Third Circle

Frank Norris is primarily known for his novels, most notably The Octopus and McTeague, but he also wrote a great deal of short stories, essays, and articles for various newspapers and periodicals. Following his untimely death in 1902, a portion of his short fiction was published in two posthumous collections. "The Third Circle", published in 1909, is virtually forgotten today to anyone but Norris scholars. Such obscurity is unmerited, however, for "The Third Circle" is a fantastic collection of stories, indicative of Norris's formidable literary talents.


The collection consists of pieces written by Norris during his employment as a staff writer for the San Francisco Wave. At the Wave, Norris wrote everything from literary and art criticism to sports to travel pieces, but he was also given the opportunity to hone his craft as a fiction writer. The book features an informative introduction by Will Irwin, an editor of the Wave, after Norris's time, who apparently compiled the collection from pieces he gleaned from the newspaper's files.  The most remarkable thing about the stories is the wide breadth of subject matter and variety of tone. Norris seems to be able to master any genre he tackles, and each subject he touches, no matter how fantastic, is handled with his distinctive, true-to-life naturalistic style.


The book opens with the title selection--a sensationalistic, pulpy tale of white slavery in Chinatown. This is followed by a few shorter pieces in which Norris beautifully captures slices of life from the streets of San Francisco.   One of the collection’s highlights is "A Reversion to Type", a comical, action-packed tale of a department store salesman who suffers a mid-life crisis and goes off on a monumental bender. Though the first few stories are confined to California, eventually the settings branch out to such exotic locales as a South African graveyard ("The Strangest Thing"), the Algerian desert ("Son of a Sheik"), and a Parisian art school ("`This Animal of a Buldy Jones'"). There's even a retelling of an Icelandic folk saga ("Grettir at Drangey"). The book closes with "The Guest of Honour," an expertly paced, suspenseful tale that borders on horror.


Although Norris is renowned for his novels, there are a few pieces here that can hold their own against his most famous books. The Third Circle is a very good showcase of this great American author's work. Any fan of Norris's writing is sure to enjoy it.