SAVAGE PLAY (381 pp.)Paul ColinDutton ($3.95).
It was evening in Paris. Young François Gane and his friend Baumier were strolling along quietly when they saw the provocative form of a strange young lady walking ahead of them. "A little before they came abreast of her, Baumier with an ample movement of his arm, as if to catch a low volley ball, slapped her buttocks resoundingly." As he did so he roared: "Goddamn little chicken."
A little latersuch is the long, slapping arm of coincidence in this novelthe chicken turns out to be Claude, a long-lost...