Virginia Dare: Stories, 1976-1981

Breaking away from his typical first person autobiographical narration, Virginia Dare is the beginning of a new stage in Fielding Dawson's career; a stage in which he employs "third person [narration], and open endings through transitions. " In his introduction Dawson explains that both the random topics of his stories and the unrelated characters make this collection a truer reflection of the human order, because in reality loose ends are not always tied up. "Completion completes but its original potential in flow with what's learned and discovered along the way, causing it to change, therefore — so too the narrative will change, leaving, in its wake, reflections of vivid yet often irrelevant-seeming loose ends that refract and sustain initial creation" Additionally, Virginia Dare is an enthralling addition to any collection of contemporary writing, particularly for those who also enjoy the writing of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, Dawson's fellow and better-known "beat generation" writers.