First published 2013
The characters in Charles Baxter's collection navigate the treacherous terrain of suburban existence where normalcy masks deeper currents. A husband discovers his wife's secret correspondence. A mother watches her teenage son drift toward dangerous choices. An office worker confronts the gap between his dreams and reality. These middle class Americans move through their daily routines while wrestling with desires they cannot name and fears they cannot explain. Their carefully constructed lives balance on knife edges. Small moments reveal large truths. A chance encounter at a grocery store unlocks buried grief. A family dinner exposes years of unspoken resentment. The characters float above abysses of their own making, sustained by sudden flashes of understanding that illuminate their shared humanity. Baxter captures the weight of ordinary disappointments and the surprising lightness that arrives when people finally see themselves clearly.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, slice-of-life
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
256 pages · Paperback · RBA Libros