THE WOMAN LIT BY FIREFLIES by...

THE WOMAN LIT BY FIREFLIES by Jim Harrison (Washington Square: $8). The latest anthology by the popular novelist/poet contains three long, unrelated and idiosyncratic short stories. “Sunset Limited” suggests a sequel to “The Big Chill,” written by Tom Robbins: Four successful Baby Boomers explore the meaning of the past they shared as ‘60s anti-war activists. “Brown Dog” is a well-drawn portrait of a likeable ne’er-do-well. Haunted by his uncertain parentage and his life’s many failures (romantic, academic, financial), B. D. (for “Brown Dog”) clings to a mystical Amerindian past that might be his legitimate heritage. In the title story, an intelligent, wealthy suburban matron suddenly abandons her dreary husband and the burden of their shared past. After spending a night hidden in a Midwestern cornfield, she realizes--”just in time,” like Noel Coward’s Mrs. Wentworth-Brewster--that life is for living.