As most books sit on my list until I can go into them with no expectations, I was prepared just to read some new stories. However, the introduction first drops a 'charming' story about the author walking up to a colleague's wife and calling her a c***, excerpts some of the most racial moments of the book, and then explains the very first piece is so private and difficult to follow that most people never finish it. Way to whet my appetite! I debated not bothering and then settled on starting at the second story. Here at the end I can say that was good preparation, because these are intense, inward, ugly stories. There's a realism that I appreciate, but I'm not running out to buy more of his work.