Whether it's a first date that turns into a late-night road trip to a séance in an abandoned airplane hangar, or a family's memories of the painful mystery surrounding a neglected uncle's demise, Peter Orner reveals how our fleeting decisions chase us across time. Selected a Book of the Year by the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, this anthology of 44 stories is anchored by the poignant novella Walt Kaplan Is Broke, which delivers not only the joys and travails of a forty-year marriage, but an entire era in a working-class New England city.

"Orner has a sharp eye for absurdity and a discerning ear for dialogue.... Insightful, rueful, and often humorous."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)