FICTION

THE LAST WORD AND OTHER STORIES by Graham Greene (Viking: $17.95; 160 pp.). For venerable Graham Greene--he of such novels as “The Power and the Glory,” “The Third Man,” “Our Man in Havana” and dozens of others--this thin collection of short stories is a fond walk down memory lane. The 12 stories here span six decades, and the majority of them have not appeared in previous anthologies. But the acid test is that Greene himself particularly likes them--and in his 96th year, he’s entitled. Here is the essence of Greene’s distinctive style: the wielding of a deft scalpel that, in just a few pages, lays a character’s soul bare. “The Moment of Truth,” for instance, is a touching account of a simple man hungering for a simple gesture of friendship--and if it doesn’t choke you up, then you’re beyond help.