Ron Carlson's stories, sometimes wicked or bittersweet, often zany, are rich with a hard-earned hopefulness frequently absent in contemporary fiction. In this generous gathering from collections no longer available, longtime fans and new readers alike can savor the development of a master of idiosyncrasy.Properly celebrated for his range, Carlson offers us a rural sheriff who's wary of UFOs (Phenomena), a lawyer on a mission in remote Alaska (Blazo), a baseball player turned killer-by-accident (Zanduce at Second), and a nineteen-year-old who experiences an unsettling sexual awakening during an Arizona summer (Oxygen). Here also is a man accusing Bigfoot of stealing his wife, followed by Bigfoot's incomparable response. Not least of the treasures is The H Street Sledding Record, a story perfect for family holiday reading, in which a young father creates the magic of Santa by throwing manure on his roof on Christmas Eve.This book proves Carlson's axiom that a short story is not a single thing done a single way, and it offers us--finally--a full view of his remarkable talents.