Stardust, 7-Eleven, Route 57, A&W, and So Forth

The New York Times Book Review calls "After Memphis," one of the stories in this debut collection, "Surely one of the finest American stories ever written." Nothing wrong with reading a writer. But how much better to her a storyteller. Which is all Patricia Lear asks of you, that you open her book and listen to her voice in the very manner you would hear it were she sitting across from you in such close reach that she could tap your knee for emphasis. These are the kinds of tales Patricia Lear wants to tell you--an assortment of confidences and remembrances, make-do ways of commemorating ordinary life for its extraordinary visions and lessons.