Sabbath Night in the Church of the Piranha

Here are sixteen of Ed Falco's finest stories, ten have never been previously collected. Over the years his prize-winning stories have appeared in nearly every important magazine and journal in the country, from Atlantic Monthly and Playboy to literary journals such as The Missouri Review. They've been reprinted in Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize and the Best American Mystery Stories. In these stories, Falco's characters negotiate personal minefields, trying (and sometimes failing) to overcome their own personality flaws and demons in order to protect their children and lovers in the face of the all too often dangerous currents in American culture-violence, sex, drugs, neglect and abuse, the upswellings of contemporary forces beyond their control.