The two stories presented in this volume focus on post-adolescent men (and, in ONE YEAR OF SCHOOL, a charismatic young woman) who are struggling with the distressing aspects of an existence they are just beginning to confront. In ONE YEAR OF SCHOOL these issues, which include the recognition of the precarious nature of life and its ultimate finitude, are wrestled with collectively by an entire class of students, while in THE ISLAND they are dealt with by the slightly older and painfully solitary central character of the tale. The rhythm or lyrical tone of the two stories is quite different as well. That of the pulsating ONE YEAR OF SCHOOL might be described as an andante agitato, while that of THE ISLAND is instead a pensive lento elegiaco. Fiction.