The protagonists of Stone's novels, Strickland in Outerbridge Reach (1992; see separate entry), Hicks in Dog Soldiers (1974; see separate entry), Holliwell in A Flag for Sunrise (1981; see separate entry), resemble the male characters in his short fiction in many ways. They, too, are "lost" and often energized by anger, their lives apparently directed by forces they almost reluctantly must finally confront.

The threat of violence is ever present, and they are usually involved in a difficult relationship with a woman they care for.

The war—in Vietnam or Central America—which occupies a prominent place in their memories has been a defining event in their lives. Drugs or booze are ever present. Because Stone wrote the stories in Bear and His Daughter through the three decades that also saw the publication of all his novels prior to Damascus Gate of 1997, the social issues raised in...