K. L. Cook's debut collection of linked stories spans three generations in the life of one West Texas family. Events both tender and tragic lead to a strange and lovely vision of a world stitched together in tenuous ways as the charact A series of unusual incidents-a daughter's elopement, a sobering holiday trip, a vicious attack by the family dog, a lightning strike-provokes a mother of five to abandon her children. An oil rigger, inspired by sun-induced hallucinations, rescues Railroad worker and conman, grieving son and battered wife-these characters explore the limits of family fragility and resilience. Their stories-suggesting unlikely connections between comedy and pathos, cruelty and generosity-promise a hard-won dignit K. L. Cook's award-winning stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines, including American Short Fiction, Threepenny Review, and Harvard Review. Cook teaches creative writing and literature at Prescott College in Arizona.

Acknowledgments

I Nature's Way

     - Easter Weekend

     - Nature's Way

     - Gone

     - Thrumming

II Last Call

     - Texas Moon

     - Last Call

     - Knock Down, Drag Out

III Pool Boy

     - Costa Rica

     - Breaking Glass

     - Marty

     - Pool Boy

IV Penance

     - Penance

K. L. Cook is the author of two other award-winning books of fiction, The Girl from Charnelle and Love Songs for the Quarantined. He teaches creative writing and literature at Prescott College and teaches in the MFA Writing Program at Spalding University.