"As good as stories get . . . Imbued with the rich roux of family, place, race, and religion that is the base of all good southern fiction." —Times-Picayune

In this collection of stories, Tim Gautreaux chronicles the lives of "ordinary" people who face extraordinary circumstances and decisions: a farmer faced with the prospect of raising his infant granddaughter; a young man who falls in love with a voice on the radio; a train engineer who causes a colossal disaster.

In stories filled with heart and humor, event and consequence, the customs and culture of Louisiana come to life in the hands of a writer who blends rare talent with an even more unusual humanity.

"Astounding . . . Masteries of grace and understatement, reminders of a what is most precious in human life . . . [Written] with an exquisitely expressed tenderness and hopefulness." —Charlotte Observer

"Gautreaux is as good a storyteller as just about anyone writing short fiction in America today." —Boston Phoenix