Irwin Shaw's characters are a gallery of interesting, usually likable characters whose plight is not of their own making. Their diverse personalities, familiar difficulties, and awkward efforts to extract themselves account for the popularity of his stories. To read the collected stories is to read la comedie humaine of America in the middle decades of the century. Shaw possesses a keen eye for the way people look or gesture, and a knack for spotting what makes them tick.

Shaw's stories pulse with the life of the American city. Characters from varied professions crowd his pages: salesman, cab driver, soldier, sailor, prize fighter, football player, writer, farmer, bartender, deputy sheriff, nurse, student. They are any and all ages: adolescent boys, marriageable girls, middle-aged husbands and wives, long term bachelors and career women, aged mothers and ancient fathers. They poise along all life's milestones: making plans for work or love...