Stewart O'Nan

Award-winning writer O'Nan has been acclaimed by critics as one of the most accomplished novelists writing today. Now comes "his most complete work to date, filled with the type of life lessons that the best fiction has to offer and from an author firmly in control of his art" (Rob Stout, "Orlando Sentinel").

This volume features twelve journeys into the lives and souls of a broad range of characters-including a ruined farmer, a black day laborer, an old Chinese grocer, and a young policeman who has become separated from his family and is descending into madness. Intimate and generous, these stories illuminate the connections that bind us and the obligations and sorrows of love. From The Speed Queen to Names of the Dead to West of Sunset, O'Nan has dazzled...

Managing a failed seafood restaurant in a run-down New England mall just before Christmas, Manny DeLeon coordinates a challenging final shift of mutinous staff members, an effort that is complicated by his love for a waitress, a pregnant girlfriend, and an elusive holiday gift.

While a son serves in World War II, his parents fight their own war, infidelity their weapon. Caught in the middle are the son's wife and a younger brother.

Newly independent widow Emily Maxwell dreams of visits by grandchildren and mourns changes in her quiet Pittsburgh neighborhood before realizing an inner strength to pursue developing opportunities.

Soldier, son, lover, husband, breadwinner, churchgoer, Henry Maxwell has spent his whole life trying to live with honor. A native Pittsburgher and engineer, he's always believed in logic, sacrifice, and hard work. Now, seventy-five and retired, he feels the world has passed him by. It's 1998, the American century is ending, and nothing is simple anymore. His children are distant, their unhappiness a mystery. Only his wife Emily and dog Rufus stand...

When her husband is incarcerated for his involvement in a tragic home invasion, Patty Dickerson must raise their newborn child in a community that is sometimes hostile to her, all the while struggling to maintain her dignity.

An anthology of Vietnam War writing, mostly by well-known authors. The fiction includes excerpts from novels, poems and songs, plus summaries of films, while non-fiction is represented by excerpts from books such as Robert Mason's Chickenhawk, the experiences of a helicopter pilot.