[In the following review, the critic compares Wakefield's Imagine a Man in a Box unfavorably to the works of Saki and A. E. Coppard.]

In Mr. Wakefield's previous books of short stories he was astute enough to concern himself exclusively with the realm of the occult and displayed considerable skill in that chosen field. In his new collection [Imagine a Man in a Box] only two stories of the thirteen are based on the supernatural, and it must be stated at the outset that this shift in emphasis is an unhappy one for the author's reputation.

These slight sketches vary in subject-matter from modern love problems, unexplained homicides and hallucinations to a care-free excursion into sheer extravaganza. The title story, a tale of twentieth-century advertising technique called “The Swimease,” and a whimsical fantasy with the provocative title of “Mr. Bellows, the Monkey and the Turtle,” are easily the best of an indifferent series. All three of these tales are uncompromisingly fanciful and remain deft illustrations of the entertainment value of imaginative writing.

“Imagine a Man in a Box” is the futuristic story of Lord Balcombe, who tested his crack-brained theory that gravitation could be defied by projecting a man in a box thousands of miles above the Sahara Desert. The world-wide excitement evoked by this amazing experiment is presented with effective drollery. In “The Swimease,” Mr. Wakefield's hero is a big business baron who decides to exploit a new bathing suit by a feat unparalleled in the history of mankind. He hires a young lady to swim across the Atlantic Ocean in slow stages, accompanying her on the hazardous journey in his yacht. The adventures of this commercial magnate, Pontius Huddersfield Makegood, and his swimming protégée make pleasant tomfoolery. The last story in this selected trio details the strange experiences of “Mr. Bellows, the Monkey and the Turtle” during their lonely sojourn on a desert island with no companions save a radio set.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Wakefield stands so definitely in the shadow cast by Saki and A. E. Coppard, whose work is so clearly in the same genre. He lacks the inventive brilliancy and stylistic delights characteristic of these two masters of the short story. Nevertheless, “Imagine a Man in a Box” is worth reading for the harmless respite it offers from the spate of triangle plots and formula fiction we are forced to endure in our current magazines.