First published 2000
A war hero returns home only to find that surviving combat was easier than understanding his own children. Across town, a woman who once wore ball gowns now faces challenges that test strength she never knew she possessed. Senior citizens on vacation discover they're braver than they imagined, while husbands glimpse lives they never considered living. These Americans wrestle with desires that surprise them and fears they can't name. Each character confronts moments that demand more than they thought they could give. Gurganus captures people caught between who they were and who they might become. The stories reveal how ordinary individuals find extraordinary resources within themselves when circumstances demand it.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, american, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, ordinary-people-in-extraordinary-circumstances
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
272 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group