A RECKLESS MOON

Warren's third collection of stories explores the small disruptions in the lives of ordinary people living in rural America and Canada. In "Hawk's Landing," Edna Carlson's adventurous days are behind her; she now finds vicarious thrills in the escapades of the local delinquent. Her quiet existence with her elderly mother is upset by the appearance of the widow of her brother, whose death her mother refuses to acknowledge. The title piece introduces a middle-aged woman who is traveling with a horse buyer whose license has been revoked for drunk driving. Both are pensive people who have little to discuss on the car journey, but who feel connected to each other nonetheless. When a storm stops them, they have time to recount their life histories and reflect on their pasts. In "Tuxedo," a trip to the dry cleaner launches Claire into a confusing relationship that, even by the end of the story, she is unable to understand. Meanwhile, Claire's best friend and her friend's mother complain to her about their problems with their husbands. Throughout these stories runs an appreciation for minutiae, whether it involves the narrator of the title story peering at a horse in the moonlight, or Carmen, a restless teenager in "Bone Garden," crawling out from beneath a tree in a hotel and spitting dirt from her mouth. Warren (Wednesday Flower Man; Black Luck Dog) is a competent writer, and these quiet stories are enhanced by the subtlety with which their secrets and surprises are revealed. (Oct.)