Cage Keeper, and Other Stories

Passion and betrayal, violent desperation, ambivalent love that hinges on hatred, and the quest for acceptance by those who stand on the edge of society—these are the hard-hitting themes of a stunningly crafted first collection of stories by the bestselling author of House of Sand and Fog.

In the title story, a vigilant young man working in a halfway house finds himself unable to defend against the...