American Affair

MARK BRAZAITIS is the author of The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala, winner of the 1998 Iowa Short Fiction Award, and Steal My Heart, a novel published in 2000. He is a past recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and his stories, poems, and essays have appeared in The Sun, Witness, Beloit Fiction Journal, Confrontation, Notre Dame Review, and Shenandoah. He is an assistant professor of English at West Virginia University.

The dozen short stories of An American Affair give us back a clear and accurate reflection of our own world here and now. Linked togther by geographical setting and the clash of contemporary cultures, they challenge our easy assumptions with complexity. The characters are wholly credible and fully dimensional. The stories they tell are moving and memorable. This is short fiction at its best and brightest.-George Garrett, final judge ""These rich, evocative stories deal with the nuances of truth and inadequacy of language to express or even find truth, even when lying is made more difficult.""-Jim Daniels ""Wonderfully anchored in place, the stories of An American Affair are provocative and emotionally honest. A good read.""-Patricia Henley