University of Virginia Library

Five Years In Army

After graduating he and Lowell
traveled to LSU for graduate work,
but neither stayed beyond Christmas
of their first year. Before
Taylor was able to settle down to
devote his time and energy to
writing, he spent five years in the
Army, not returning to New York
until 1946.

While at Kenyon he had published
two stories in "River," a
now-defunct Mississippi literary magazine
whose first issue introduced
stories by Taylor and Eudora
Welty. But it was not until after the
war that Taylor could again resume
writing as a full-time occupation.
He then began to publish his stories
in literary quarterlies and in such
magazines as "The New Yorker."
The story which brought him to
public recognition, "A Long
Fourth" (also the title of his first
collection) is often cited by critics
as the story most demonstrative of
the author's talent. But Taylor feels
that "Venus, Cupid, Folly, and
Time" and "Mrs. Leonore When
Last Seen" offer "the fullest
statement of what I am trying to
write about."