In this collection of short stories, originally published in 1974, Grace Paley makes the novel as a form seem virtually redundant (Angela Carter, London Review of Books). Her stories here capture the itch of the city, love between parents and children and the cutting edge of combat (Lis Harris, The New York Times Book Review). In this collection of seventeen stories, she creates a solid and vital fictional world, cross-referenced and dense with life (Walter Clemons, Newsweek).