(from the publisher)
n these 12 short stories, Tobias Wolff places characters in situations that force them to face important questions--how to be loved, how to be true, how to be brave--and their responses are both humorous and appalling. Three men go hunting together, in a tale that is more about friendship than killing; a boy who tells outrageous lies finally understands why he does it; and an elderly man finds unwelcome truths on a cruise celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary. As in most of Wolff's writing, the prime characteristics of these stories are meticulous craft, brutal honesty, and a profound sense of the comic.