First published 2013
In the title story, a middle-aged man with cancer enters the forest planning to end his life. He encounters a young boy in crisis during what becomes a transformative morning that forces the dying man to remember his true self. Other stories follow a teenage witness to an attempted kidnapping who must choose between safety and action, a damaged veteran returning to live with his mother while wrestling with his wartime experiences, and a deluded antique shop owner navigating his failing business. Saunders presents characters caught between competing moral choices: two mothers trying to protect their children, a teenage girl whose beliefs collide with harsh reality, and a man subjected to pharmaceutical experiments that manipulate his emotions and desires. These people struggle with questions of work, love, class, and survival while searching for what remains good in themselves and others. The stories examine how ordinary individuals respond when forced to confront their deepest fears and strongest convictions.
Genres: fiction, short-stories, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, moral-dilemma
Period: 21st-century
251 pages · Hardcover · Random House
Content warnings: death, mental-illness