Get to know the colorful cast of characters at the Granite State Trailerpark, where Flora in number 11 keeps more than a hundred guinea pigs andscreams at people to stay away from her babies, Claudel in number 5 thinks he is lucky until his wife burns down their trailer and runs off with Howie Leeke, and Noni in number 7 has telephone conversations with Jesus and tells the police about them. In this series of related short stories, Russell Banks offers gripping, realistic portrayals of individual Americans and paints a portrait of New England life that is at once dark, witty, and revealing.
(from the publisher)

Contents:
- The Guinea Pig Lady
- Cleaving, and Other Needs
- Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat
- Dis Bwoy, Nim Gwan
- What Noni Hubner Did Not Tell the Police abour Jesus
- Comfort
- God's Country
- Principles
- The Burden
- Politics
- The Right Way
- The Child Screams and Looks Back at You
- The Fisherman