Chip off the old block / Wallace Stegner -- And in my heart / R.V. Cassill -- The comforts of home / Flannery O'Connor -- The illegibility of this world / Richard Stern -- The fisherman who got away / Thomas Williams -- Offspring of the first generation / Bette Pesetsky -- The hustler / Walter Tevis -- Put yourself in my shoes / Raymond Carver -- Saints / Bharati Mukherjee -- Dunkelblau / Clark Blaise -- Falling in love / Andre Dubus -- The last generation / Joy Williams -- A more complete cross-section / John Casey -- A sorrowful woman / Gail Godwin -- Thirty-four seasons of winter / William Kittredge -- Mouses / Thom Jones -- A solo song: for Doc / James Alan McPherson -- Paper lantern / Stuart Dybek -- Work / Denis Johnson -- His dog / Ron Hansen -- A women's restaurant / T. Coraghessan Boyle -- Aren't you happy for me? / Richard Bausch -- Blessed assurance: a moral tale / Allan Gurganus -- Long distance / Jane Smiley -- Alma / Jayne Anne Phillips -- White angel / Michael Cunningham -- Mundo's sign / Bob Shacochis -- The story of my life / Kim Edwards -- Birthmates / Gish Jen -- The year of getting to know us / Ethan Canin -- The zealous mourner / Marly Swick -- The commuter / Colin Harrison -- Planting / Pinckney Benedict -- Here's your hat what's your hurry / Elizabeth McCracken -- Out of the woods / Chris Offutt -- Open house / Charles D'Ambrosio -- Lilacs / Abraham Verghese -- A hole in the sheets / Susan Power -- Brownsville / Tom Piazza -- Pipa's story / Lan Samantha Chang -- Buckeye the elder / Brady Udall -- Speaking in tongues / ZZ Packer.