From Booklist
In this collection of stories, Gioseffi, prizewinning anthologist of Women on War (1988), brings together pieces that center on outsiders, race relations, or female sexuality. In the longest story (the novella), a former prostitute and a circus freak find love, only to be torn apart by their pasts. One group of stories deals with the problems of immigrants assimilating to the U.S. Another set deals with racism within the U.S., by and against those who have already been assimilated. Some stories have such a strong element of surprise that they border on magical realism or the supernatural. In many, the main character has or begins an active sexual life. Gioseffi's hard-hitting and guileless prose sometimes adds mystery and sometimes merely confounds. But readers interested in the politically disempowered confronting exploitation and finally having their say will find satisfaction in these parables. Kevin Grandfield
