Richard Russo

In his first collection, a master storyteller focuses on a fresh and fascinating range of human behavior. A jaded Hollywood movie-maker uncovers a decades-old flame he never knew he'd harbored; a precocious fifth grader puzzles over life, love, and baseball as he watches his parents' marriage dissolve; another child is forced into a harrowing cross-country escape; an elderly couple rediscovers the power of their relationship; and in the title story,...

Carlucci's Edge brings to life a chilling scenario in the bleak urban landscape that is twenty-first-century San Francisco and marks the return of Lt. Frank Carlucci, first seen in Destroying Angel.The San Francisco Police Department is stonewalling seemingly unrelated murder investigations, and Carlucci is determined to find out why. His unauthorized investigation leads him to an insidious black market run by top political officials.

"In these nine essays, [the author] provides insight into his life as a writer, teacher, friend, and reader"--Amazon.com.

"While the title novella of Dubus's Finding a Girl in America returns to the somewhat off-the-rails literary life of Hank Allison, the collection's opening story strikes a much darker tone: "Killings"-the basis of the Academy Award-nominated film In the Bedroom-is a swift tale of revenge that leaves readers wondering what they might do in the name of family love. Dubus's prowess with narrative compression is on full display in the story "Waiting":...

Fifty years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, To Kill a Mockingbird remains a beloved best seller and quite possibly the most influential American novel of the 20th century. Mary McDonagh Murphy's Hey, Boo explores the To Kill a Mockingbird phenomenon and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding Harper Lee, including why she never published again. It also brings to light the context and history of the novel's Deep South setting and the social changes...