es from an essential author of African American fiction gives us compelling portraits of a wide range of unforgettable characters, from sassy children to cunning old men, from uptown New York to rural North Carolina.

"Bambara grabs you by the throat ... she dazzles, she charms." --Chicago Daily News

A young girl suffers her first betrayal. A widow flirts with an elderly blind man against the wishes of her grown-up children. A neighborhood loan shark teaches a white social worker a lesson in responsibility. And there is more. Sharing the world of Toni Cade Bambara's "straight-up fiction" is a stunning experience.