William Faulkner, at his Nobel Prize banquet in 1950, encouraged writers to take on "the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself." Answering that challenge may not always lead to happy poems and stories, but the exploration often leads to meaningful and satisfying ones.

In this collection of previously published and unpublished creative works, the author guides the reader on a journey through a range of emotions and presents his themes using a diversity of locales, from the familiar to the exotic?from Oklahoma and the Midwest and Mexico to Italy, Vietnam, and the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. "Colorado" mitigates the sting of death. "Oracle," based on King Acrisius, from the Perseus myth, shows the power of prophecy to create dread. In "Sharing the Wheel," through a dream sequence, a father takes a break from the reality of his wheelchair-bound son, who gently returns him to the present. The three soldiers in "Dog in the Road" get a lesson in innocence when one of them runs over a dog while driving through a village. In "Galileo's Spyglass," the hopes of an enterprising thief are dashed when he encounters the famous scientist, and discovers that genius needs an audience. "Solace" is a poignant example of how a writer uses description and sense of place to reveal character. "The Legend of Emiliano Queruga," set on an offshore drilling platform, tells the tale of two men going insane?one dramatically and in legendary fashion, the other quietly and in secret. And in the final story, also set on an offshore drilling platform, an avowed innocent and college dropout realizes that some people cannot be rescued?but should the attempt nevertheless be made?

Six poems and six stories, 28,040 words