Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- STORIES -- Fountains in Italy, 1868 -- A Ripple on the Ocean of Time -- Lay Your Commands Upon Her, Joseph -- The Very Ferocious Man -- Author's Epilogue -- In the Golden Days -- The Mirage of Edward Pontifex -- A Visit to the Frontier -- The Life and Death of Mrs. Grant -- ESSAYS -- Joyce Cary -- Somewhere Near the Truth -- An Approach to Some Novels -- A Cat Among the Falcons -- The Bridge or the Stokehold? -- Admissions, Seabirds, and People -- LETTERS: Selected Correspondence, November 1944-March 1974 -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W.