Tobias Wolff

Combines ten original works with twenty-one classic tales that chronicle the unexpected revelations that occur in the lives of characters ranging from a teacher abducted by a student's father to an attorney taking a difficult deposition.

Fourteen stories on a variety of subjects. In Firelight, a woman and her son visit apartments for rent even though they have no money to rent them, in A Bullet in the Head a bystander gets shot for heckling a robber, and in Chain a man revenging himself for a dog biting his daughter starts a chain of violence.

Caroline just wants to settle down in one place, find a decent guy, and provide a better home for her handful of a son, Toby. When she moves to Seattle and meets Dwight, she thinks she's got it made. Toby, however, feels differently after spending time with Dwight while away from Caroline. Dwight seems to want to mold Toby into a better person, but to do so he emotionally, verbally, and physically abuses the kid. The marriage proceeds, and soon Caroline,...

Collects forty short stories published between 1915 and 2015, from writers that include Ernest Hemingway, John Updike, and Alice Munro that exemplify their era and stand the test of time.