This is a very enjoyable set of stories. Mostly set in Kentucky or Florida, our characters (often recurring from story to story) are folks on the outskirts of the American Dream - bartenders, barflies, lawn care guys, lost (or misplaced) souls, confused teenagers. Some of the stories are funny, some semi-tragic, and most a combination of the two. Joe Taylor is very much a practitioner of the "show, don't tell" school of storytelling, so don't expect any omniscient narrators or long internal monologues. He gets on with the story and doesn't waste a lot of words. The results are worth your time, and I'll certainly read more of his books.