In this powerful collection of linked stories, debut author Brian Jabas Smith gazes into the lives of the stunted and the lost. There is the teenaged bicycle-racing champion from the Arizona desert who is escaping an abusive home life. The jaundiced rock n roll singer whose neon-lit gaze takes us from a Beverly Hills mansion to the crack-cocaine streets of old Hollywood. The desperate addict in the Phoenix barrio with nowhere to turn, strung out on crystal meth, porn, alcohol and nude dancers. Elsewhere, a Detroit journalist discovers that sobriety was not part of his job description, and the internally crippled mother whose lovely daughters are doomed for life. These stories are disturbing and raw yet offer eerily beautiful portrayals of loss, ultimately, reclamation, and perhaps, redemption. (Ridgeway Press)