The distinctive cant of Gilbert's stories recalls the off-kilter worlds of T. Craghessan Boyle, and she embraces the bizarre and fabulous with similar enthusiasm. She eschews only the high and might.... But blunt summaries capture none of Gilbert's subtlety. Whether trashing those on high or celebrating those below, she moves stealthily, avoiding the temptation to grandstand, moralize or, especially, patronize.

Gilbert's first collection of short stories is remarkable for its breadth, range of setting, and subject matter. Each world her characters inhabit, whether ranchlands in the West or the Bronx Terminal Vegetable Market, is authentic and fully realized. Her stories do not finish with clever twists or pat endings; we simply spend time with her characters and believe that they go on living after the story is finished. Without editorializing, Gilbert lets us discover the characters; when we read of "The Many Things That Denny Brown Did Not Know (Age Fifteen)," we also learn the important things he did know.

PILGRIMS

1

ELK TALK

19

ALICE TO THE EAST

33

BIRD SHOT

49

TALL FOLKS

69

LANDING

85

COME AND FETCH

THESE STUPID KIDS

95

THE MANY THINGS THAT

DENNY BROWN DID NOT KNOW

(AGE FIFTEEN)

1O9

THE NAMES OF

FLOWERS AND GIRLS

129

AT THE BRONX TERMINAL

VEGETABLE MARKET

147

THE FAMOUS TORN AND

RESTORED LIT CIGARETTE TRICK

175

THE  FINEST  WIFE

201