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206 pages, Hardcover
First published September 25, 1995
No one should be alone in this world. Everyone should have someone who kept faith, no matter what, all the way.That sentiment permeates the stories in this masterful collection. Many of his characters suffer from loneliness, a sense of isolation, guilt or regret. A man’s act of revenge goes horribly wrong. Another man recalls a magical moment from his childhood and incorporates it into his adult life in a story that looks at the elements of happiness. Want to know what the world thinks of you? One of Wolff’s characters finds a unique way to ascertain his standing. A soldier places himself in peril by his compulsion to mouth off. An adolescent boy wants to be with a particular girl, and gets a chance to try, but can he really rise in stature from what he is, from how she really sees him? A woman and stepdaughter step outside their isolation from each other, briefly. A dying man sees his life flash by. A woman uses guilt to hold on to a friend in danger of leaving. Connections are lost, sought, endangered or never made.