The polished gems from Shirley Hazzard's trove of sparkling stories We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Normal text size Virago, $39.99 The first story in this welcome collection of Shirley Hazzard’s complete short fiction sets the tone for half of what will follow. The Party begins with politely spiked banter among the guests at a middle-class party and becomes an intimate snapshot of a couple edging toward the end of an affair. People quote Browning poems and speak in well-turned, riddling sentences: ‘‘Taste is more important than sentiment’’; ‘‘I’m beginning to wonder if it’s a virtue to be good.’’ You might wonder if they are serious or sarcastic, and whether Hazzard has sympathy or irritation for her tearful heroines. A combination is possible.