A young man struggles to find his identity in this short story by the bestselling author of The Tourist.Olen Steinhauer's crafty story begins as an affectionate recounting by Tom, a down-on-his-luck graduate caring for his sick mother and ...

As the two review Sam’s life, the grand epic of the twentieth century comes sharply into focus. Sam grows up in Louisiana under the flawed morality of an abusive father. Eager to escape, Sam enlists in the army while still underage.

"A slim, erotic and fable-like . . . book that picks up on many of Butler's abiding themes—the legacy of the Vietnam War, the clash of Vietnam's folklore and mysticism with American manners . . . [Butler is] a writer working to cast a ...

From the deeply moving “Carl and I,” in which a young wife writes a postcard in reply to a card from her husband who is dying of tuberculosis, to the eerily familiar “The One in White,” in which a newspaper reporter covers an ...

The stories, which have appeared in literary magazines across the country, are a delightful and intriguing creative feat from one of today's most inventive writers.

The book begins on the day that the Hays are to finalize their divorce. Kelly is due to be in court, but instead she drives from her home in Pensacola, Florida, across the panhandle to New Orleans.

There are a dozen ways the American Dream can go awry in this “unrepeatable . . . tour de force” of short fiction from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author (The Washington Post Book World). “[With] touches of Italo Calvino, Roald Dahl, ...

This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Includes two subsequently published stories that complete the collection's narrative journey, returning to the jungles of Vietnam.