Patti Carr Black, the editor of a new compilation of Eudora Welty’s early writing says

An evening with her was like being at vaudeville. She was great at one-liners and quick responses. She had such clarity and wit you were always taken aback.

The book includes lighthearted Welty juvenilia, including a sketch of William Faulkner “look[ing] wild-haired and black-eyed, as if he had just been electrocuted.

The cover alone shows she wasn’t the humdrum old bag some biographers have made her out to be. But did she want this stuff published?
 

Update: Apparently Welty gave her permission for the project twenty years ago, saying: “I don’t know why you’d want to, but go ahead…”