The mechanical men in these stories—Industrial Age holdovers, outsiders wanting for relevance and respect, or overwhelmed people who confuse the certainties of one reality with the doubts of another—are cut off in some way from contemporary culture, yet still command our attention.

RANDY F. NELSON is the author of The Almanac of American Letters. Nelson's stories have appeared in such publications as Gettysburg Review, North American Review, and Kenyon Review.