![]() ![]() Wolff reaches convincingly beyond the quotidian in a sinuously plotted tale about three men (“Hunters in the Snow”) whose taunting horseplay whiplashes into an explosion of rage and violence, and an equally tense account of an underachieving career soldier whose screw-ups are echoed in varied relationships with his buddies, superior officers and married girlfriend (“Soldier’s Joy”). Troubled families are a recurring subject: “The Liar,” for example, concerns a teenaged boy whose compulsive prevarications are both defense mechanisms and strategies for achieving a necessary maturity, and the beautifully paced, Cheever-like “The Rich Brother” depicts the frustrating bond between two contrasting adult siblings. A number of the entries, Wolff notes, have been slightly revised for the purposes of the collection. ![]() The book features 21 previously published stories and ten new stories. An impressive range of contemporary experience is distilled into crisp, urgent little dramas in this story collection from Wolff ( Old School, 2003, etc.). ![]()
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