Percival Everett's short stories draw you immediately in and leave you satisfied -- even those that are only a couple of printed pages. This collection was published in 1987, and I read it after reading many of his subsequently published novels. It was interesting to see some of these stories appeared as brief segments in or formed the beginning threads of those later long-form novels. That's one of the many cool things I enjoy with authors who have published expansively over decades. ( )