FICTION

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS: A Novel by Stona Fitch (Putnam: $21.95; 277 pp. ). Larkin Stride, the 30something narrator of Stona Fitch’s first novel, has been out of his element for more than a decade, ever since he arrived at Harvard from Arkansas driving a red Chevelle with chromed exhaust pipes, a four-barrel carburetor and deluxe wheel rims. Living in the Boston area once again, this time he seems to fit in. He now drives a Volvo, having become a highly paid management consultant, but beneath the surface Stride is a fraud and knows it. Something’s got to give, and as it turns out, everything does, from Stride’s marriage (to another young executive) and career, to his reputation and even his car. “Strategies for Success” can be read as a morality tale for the yuppie generation, a warning about the dark side of easy money--Stride describes his company as a “velvet coffin”--but it’s more about the ultimate futility of trying to reinvent oneself: Stride, at bottom, is simply a Chevelle kind of guy. “Strategies for Success” is easy reading, and although it doesn’t really add up to much, it’s still a well-placed shot across the bow of the S.S. Upwardly Mobile.