content: Michael Chabon is a very talented author, but you don't get the impression by reading this weak collection of stories. Each story is written with no apparent finale. When it does have an ending, it tends to baffle the reader rather than offer closure. I especially disliked the title story where the first person narrator is omniscient only half the time. It's more annoying than innovative. It seems that Chabon didn't have enough materials to write a novel, and thought, "why not write a bunch of stories with disputable continuity and call them vignettes?" I suggest that you skip this book, or you'll be thinking less of a great writer.