by David Means
First published 2010
A young father sits in a hospital room facing his son's dire medical diagnosis. Two lovers meet in a Hudson River park, both sensing their relationship nears its end. Three men huddle in an abandoned blacksmith shed, dissecting every detail of their failed bank robbery. A Manhattan resident battles the constant noise from his upstairs neighbor, the sound driving him toward madness. At the base of Niagara Falls, a girl's body drifts in the churning water, trapped in currents that mirror her tragic fate. In dusty Nebraska, a band of hapless radicals gathers at their makeshift camp, scheming toward an impossible revolution. These thirteen stories explore moments when ordinary people confront extraordinary circumstances. Each tale centers on a specific location where characters face turning points, revelations, or reckonings. The collection moves between comedy and tragedy, examining how geography shapes destiny and how particular places become forever linked to pivotal experiences.
Genres: short-stories, drama, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Hudson River, Niagara Falls, Nebraska
Period: 21st-century
176 pages · Hardcover · Faber & Faber
Content warnings: depression, medical-trauma