From Library Journal
These 15 stories from the author of Last Exit to Brooklyn range from clipped street vernacular to poetic description, but common to all the pieces in this slightly uneven collection is a compassionate vision. "The Coat" is essential Selby: an unsparing portrait of a homeless man whose relationship with his coathis lifelineis more humanly meaningful than the violent city around him. A girl on a subway becomes a man's fantasy object, a salesman finds courage and success through fortune cookies, a father smashes a TV to gain his son's attention, and in a twisted way he doesthe son tapes the incident: Selby's work is earthy, thoughtful, funny, and about a recognizably uncaring world. Peter Bricklebank, English Dept., City Coll., CUNYCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Fat Phil can't believe his luck at dice, but when his friends turn nasty, he pleads with fate to let him lose; a salesman psychs himself up with encouraging messages from fortune cookies, until the advice turns sour; a young boy experiences the onset of puberty as a sudden crushing weight one summer's afternoon." "Hubert Selby began as a writer of short stories and he excels in this form, plunging the reader headfirst into the densely realised worlds and dilemmas of his protagonists. He offers a passionate empathy with ordinary dreams, a brilliant ear for the street and for the voices of conscience and self-deceit that torment us all.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal