Introduction: "Spotlights" / by Ann Beattie -- Separate flights. We don't live here anymore ; Over the hill ; The doctor ; In my life ; If they knew Yvonne ; Going under ; Miranda over the valley ; Separate flights -- Adultery & other choices. An afternoon with the old man ; Contrition ; The bully ; Graduation ; The fat girl ; Cadence ; Corporal of artillery ; The shooting ; Andromache ; Adultery.
Summary, etc.:
"The collection includes the novella "We Don't Live Here Anymore," which served as the basis for the 2004 film of the same title (nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival); the novella also introduces Dubus's writer-protagonist Hank Allison, a character who continue to appear throughout his work. While the collection's opening stories focus on the fragile nature of youth, later stories shift to darker struggles of adulthood, such as in "Andromache"-Dubus's first story to appear in The New Yorker (1968)-which traces the aftermath of a tragic death during wartime."--Provided by publisher.