In the title story, a white aspiring professor is convinced she is being followed. No need to panic—she has a handgun stowed away in her purse, just in case. But when she turns to confront her black male shadow, the situation isn’t what she expects. In “The Rescuer,” a promising graduate student detours to inner-city Trenton, New Jersey, to save her brother from a downward spiral. But she soon finds out there may be more to his world than to hers. And in “The Last Man of Letters,” the world-renowned author X embarks on a final grand tour of Europe. He has money, fame, but not a whole lot of manners. A little thing like etiquette couldn’t bring a man like X down, could it? In these biting and beautiful pieces, Oates confronts, one by one, the demons within us, demonstrating that sometimes, it’s not the human side that wins out.

Contents:

• “The Home at Craigmillnar” read by Ray Chase
• “High” read by Donna Postel
• “Toad-Baby” read by Luci Christian
• “Demon” read by Chris Patton
• “Lorelei” read by Tamara Marston
• “The Rescuer” read by Julia Whelan
• “The Last Man of Letters” ready by Ray Chase
• “High Crime Area” read by Julia Whelan