Bear and His Daughter
The stories in Robert Stone's first collection,Bear and His Daughterwere written over the course of 30 years and cover a variety of topics from abortion to  drug dealing. In "Miserere," Mary Urquhart, a widow who lost her own  children in a terrible accident, now assuages her guilt by taking responsibility for the  souls of the unborn. In "Under the Pitons, " the reluctant Blessington finds  himself caught up in the grim aftermath of a drug-running scheme, while in  "Porque No Tiene, Porque Le Falta" a hike up the side of a Mexican volcano  brings about eruptions in the personal lives of ex-patriot Fletch and his companions.Most of the characters in Stone's stories are male, most of them have no first names. The  writing is spare, the motivations and emotions are telegraphed. Everyone in this  collection has been wounded by life, and anger is their shield against further pain. Stone  is well-known for uncompromising prose on subjects as divergent as Vietnam and  Hollywood. InBear and His Daughter, he continues his exploration of the dark  recesses of the human soul.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.