FICTION : UNDER THE LIGHT <i> by Sam Michel (Alfred A. Knopf: $19; 175 pp.).</i>

Former ranch hand and ski instructor Sam Michel has turned an introspective eye on the human condition in this collection of 15 stories. The tales are loosely draped around pivotal Harry Drake, but they hopscotch both chronologically and geographically. In general, these episodic--tending to the choppy--stories are set in the West and provide insights into Harry’s life as a boy, a teen-ager and a young man. When the stories work, as in “Willows,” they work very effectively. When they don’t, the thud of the missed mark is resounding. Michel has an obvious love affair with the English language, but linguistic handstands and somersaults alone can also lead to some embarrassing pratfalls. There’s an undeniable talent here, but the collection falls far short of the mark when Michel’s publisher compares “Under the Light” to Ernest Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories.