The gift of story A wise tale about what is enough

In her still best-selling Women Who Run with the Wolves ( LJ 6/15/92), Estes, a Jungian analyst turned New Age guru, presented ``myths and stories of the wild woman archetype.'' In this slim volume, she embeds within two other brief narratives a retelling of the story popularized by O. Henry in his ``The Gift of the Magi,'' here set in Hungary during World War II. The moral--since Estes believes that stories not only teach but heal--is also similar to O. Henry's: ``The young couple . . . like the magi, were wise too, for they gave the most golden of all things possible. They gave their love, their truest love to one another.'' Her twist: ``And it was enough.'' ``The Gift of the Magi'' has become a well-loved classic, and while Estes's retelling is graceful and wise and Michael McCurdy's wood-cut illustrations are dramatic, is the story different enough from O. Henry's to warrant a new publication? And will the millions of fans of Estes's previous work find it to be ``enough''? Recommended only where there is demand.-- Marcia Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., Ct. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.