by Jean Thompson

In her third collection of short stories, Jean Thompson sketches out episodes in the lives of people who just fall short of happiness. In one story, a man whose wife has died sells his house to a happy young couple, but the house contains so much of the widower's misery that the new residents find themselves mourning their own lives. Other stories grow out of the sadnesses of junkies, Vietnam veterans, and cops on the night beat. This book named a New York Times Notable Book in 1999.