The Gift of Story: A Wise Tale About What is Enough
In her still best-selling Women Who Run with the Wolves ( LJ 6/15/92), Estes, a Jungian analyst turned New Age guru, presented "myths and stories of the wild woman archetype." In this slim volume, she embeds within two other brief narratives a retelling of the story popularized by O. Henry in his "The Gift of the Magi," here set in Hungary during World War II. The moral--since Estes believes that stories not only teach but heal--is also similar to O. Henry's: "The young couple . . . like the magi, were wise too, for they gave the most golden of all things possible. They gave their love, their truest love to one another." Her twist: "And it was enough." "The Gift of the Magi" has become a well-loved classic, and while Estes's retelling is graceful and wise and Michael McCurdy's wood-cut illustrations are dramatic, is the story different enough from O. Henry's to warrant a new publication? And will the millions of fans of Estes's previous work find it to be "enough"? Recommended only where there is demand.- Marcia Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.