The Mechanical Hour

Each of the five stories in this collection presents a character who feels compelled to do something out of the ordinary. In "Rock Creek Bridge," a lonely man interferes with a stranger's bleak plan. In "The Day Room," young married man suffers the lingering pangs of an old attachment. "The Mechanical Hour" features a man who suspects himself of harboring an unhealthy impulse. In "Occoquan," a young lobbyist falls lower than he thought possible. In "Ballplayers," an alternate take on the classic form of the baseball story, a man recounts his version of a theft he committed as a youth. While these stories vary in subject matter and narration, they all explore the perimeter of the unruined world.