From the national bestselling author of A Gate at the Stairs —and a master of contemporary American fiction—comes “a funny, cohesive, and moving collection of stories" ( The New York Times Book Review ).  In these tales of loss and pleasure, lovers and family, a woman learns to conduct an affair, a child of divorce dances with her mother, and a woman with a terminal illness contemplates her exit. Filled with the sharp humor, emotional acuity, and joyful language Moore has become famous for, these nine glittering tales marked the introduction of an extravagantly gifted writer.