Williams debut collection of stories which was awarded the Dial Press Fellowship for Fiction. Many of the stories were previously published and one was an O.Henry prize winning story. From the author: "Although when I wrote them I was never conscious of any central theme in these stories, it seems to me they are all concerned with the conflict in man between his violence and his gentleness. I don't know the outcome of tis conflict, but I must keep trying to find out.
