Count No 'Count

Coming home to Oxford Mississippi in 1918 after a stint in the Royal Flying Corps young William Faulkner was arty and dandified. He sometimes was seen in his airman’s uniform and he affected English manners. His pose amused some of his townsmen and joking behind his back they called him “The Count” and “Count No ’Count.”<P>During this period Ben Wasson met Faulkner at the University of Mississippi where both were students. Their interest in art and literature drew them together. Later Wasson became Faulkner’s first literary agent as well as an adviser and sounding board. In New York Wasson edited a Faulkner manuscript into a readable length. It was published as <i>Sartoris</i>. Also Wasson helped Faulkner to place <i>The Sound and the Fury</i> with a new York publisher. Their friendship lasted for more than thirty years as their paths crossed and recrossed in New York Hollywood and Mississippi.<P>In <i>Count No ’Count</i> Wasson muses over this long and close relationship in