Absinthe

Absinthe ($22.95; May; 80 pp.; 0-8101-6042-0): A limpid novella (really only a long story) from the miniaturist master whose earlier fictions include Annam (1996) and Hourmaster (1998). Set in Provence around the time of WW1, it's the story of the reclusive Jean Mardet's obsession with the narcotic liquor he distills from indigenous plants, and the effect of his creation as perceived by a disapproving government (``the consumption of absinthe is developing among the population a spirit of rebellion''). A splendid little allegory of the conflict between folkways and modern societywith an exactly appropriate bitter aftertaste. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.