In this, his third collection of stories, Lester Goran moves us again through the times and places indelibly stamped with his wit and insight about people and events lost to history. Outlaws of the Purple Cow centers around the domains of Irish-American men and women in Pittsburgh. Goran creates once more his world of poignant and magical times and places within the mundane affairs of ordinary men and women. Goran's evocative settings and narratives range form the supernatural to the humorous, from bawdy to richly detailed realism. Goran, with his mastery of language and images, chronicles in stories the unheralded laughters and sorrows of Americans seldom noted in fiction. Goran creates once more his world of poignant and magical times and places within the mundane affairs of ordinary men and women. Goran's evocative settings and narratives range from the supernatural to the humorous, from bawdy to richly detailed realism: the bewildering ceremony enacted on a suburban lawn on Good Friday; an inventory of the loves of a lifetime compiled on scraps of paper and matchbook covers; the young man home on leave from the army who encounters a woman whose entire life is reflected in the wires holding together her threadbare Christmas tree; and the young man on the first day of his first job who delivers roses to a house where the homeowner had died since ordering the flowers. Goran, with his mastery of language and images, chronicles in stories the unheralded laughter's and sorrows of Americans seldom noted in fiction.

Pittsburgh has always been—despite its industrial reputation—a great city in which to be a writer. Its active, close-knit writing community has seen the rise of several luminaries with Pittsburgh connections, such as Annie Dillard and Stewart O'Nan, and the caliber of Pittsburgh's writing community today is better than ever. Lee Gutkind has assembled a reunion of sorts with writers from across the nation, as well as the up-and-coming stars on the local scene—each of whom has a Pittsburgh connection. Many grew up in the region, others attended college here: all of them have an association with the city. The resulting collection of essays is both gentle and jarring, eclectic and persuasive, covering a range of topics—from a stripper's work ethic to West Virginia's famed Matewan shootout, Atlantic City's Boardwalk before Donald Trump, and the uses of poetry to better understand one's own life. Although Pittsburgh is not the subject of most of the essays, these writers are bound by their affinity for the written word and their collective fondness for Pittsburgh.

On a spring day in 1968, Pittsburgher Daly Racklin discovers that he has one year to live. An attorney and the reluctant linchpin of a dying Irish neighborhood, culture, and people, he is at once a man torn by his father's omnipotent shadow and the struggles of his own heart. As his elevated position brings him from one home to another, he increasingly discovers the importance of what he sees disappearing. Bing Crosby's Last Song is a funny, touching, heart-wrenching story of survival and love, a community's demise and a wanderer's rebirth.

Focuses on how the declining market for short-story writers after World War II saw the migration of these writers to universities where they not only continued to write, but established creative writing classes that would in turn inspire and develop new generations of writers of various genres.

This omnibus contains the 3 famous stories by Stephen Crane: The Blue Hotel The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky The Open Boat Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet who is often called the first modern American writer. Crane was a correspondent in the Greek-Turkish War and the Spanish American War, penning numerous articles, war reports and sketches.

"The Little Regiment and Other Episodes from the American Civil War" is a collection of short stories with the Civil War as the main theme:_x000D_ The Little Regiment_x000D_ Three Miraculous Soldiers_x000D_ A Mystery of Heroism_x000D_ An Indiana Campaign_x000D_ A Grey Sleeve_x000D_ The Veteran_x000D_ Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.

"The Red Badge of Courage" – Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a "red badge of courage," to counteract his cowardice._x000D_ "The Little Regiment and Other Episodes from the American Civil War" is a collection of short stories with the Civil War as the main theme:_x000D_ The Little Regiment_x000D_ Three Miraculous Soldiers_x000D_ A Mystery of Heroism_x000D_ An Indiana Campaign_x000D_ A Grey Sleeve_x000D_ The Veteran_x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_