To this irresistible debut collection of short stories, Richard Russo brings the
same bittersweet wit, deep knowledge of human nature, and spellbinding narrative
gifts that distinguish his best-selling novels. His themes are the imperfect bargains
of marriage; the discoveries and disillusionments of childhood;the unwinnable battles
men and women insist on fighting with the past.

A cynical Hollywood moviemaker
confronts his dead wife’s lover and abruptly realizes the depth of his own passion.
As his parents’ marriage disintegrates, a precocious fifth-grader distracts himself
with meditations on baseball, spaghetti, and his place in the universe. And in the
title story, an elderly nun enters a college creative writing class and plays havoc
with its tidy notions of fact and fiction. The Whore’s Child is further proof that
Russo is one of the finest writers we have, unsparingly truthful yet hugely compassionate
and capable of creating characters real that they seem to step off the page.