'The Driver's Seat' & 'The Girls Of Slender Means'

Really knocking out Muriel Sparks' short fiction.

Given the characters in "The Driver's Seat" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," I always wonder how autobiographical these people are in her stories.

Maybe not very much, but it's interesting how close Lise and Jean Brodie mirror each other as delusional, self-involved neurotics, neither of which seem to know which end is up.

Sparks' mid-century portrayal of the young women in Europe is extraordinary. "Girls of Slender Means" is a great snapshot of these different, independent and intelligent women seeking to make their own mark in the world despite all the tragedy and deadends they might actually find.

All of these stories are incredibly tragic, which might be an insight into Sparks' real life more than any of these characters.