With an ear tuned to the rhythms of dialect and a remarkable talent for spotting the telling details, James B. Hall finds the limits of what we can know about those around us. These fifteen stories, all seeking plausible explanations for often erratic behavior, chart the narrow passage between what is known and what can only be inferred. In "The Lettuce Wars, " Paco, an eyewitness to the fatal crash of a veteran bomber-turned-cropduster, tries to understand why the pilot would fly too low over the wrong field; and only a few subtle clues are offered to explain Lew's sudden violence in "But Who Gets the Children?" In the title story, Ruthie is torn between branding her co-worker a thief or a victim; and J. W. Emerson never wholly uncovers the extraordinary chain of events that results in the death of his former tenant in "The Rock Pool." First appearing in Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Black Warrior Review, San Francisco Review, and other prominent publications, the short stories in I Like It Better Now are poignant reminders of how little we understand the secret lives of those closest to us.
- ISBN10 155728234X
- ISBN13 9781557282347
- Publish Date 1 February 1992
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 4 October 2008
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Arkansas Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 214
- Language English