Welcome to Superior, Wisconsin, home to a declining population, 
often-dismal weather, and dying ethnic communities. Despite the 
ore dust blanketing the city, miracles occur here. In the title story, 
a Jewish train track inspector discovers a magical place behind the 
house of a lonely Polish schoolteacher; in "Closing Time," an 
accordion player at the local VFW finds an appreciative audience 
in a disillusioned German war bride; in "The Moon of the Grass 
Fires," a retired flour mill worker has a vision of goodness and 
life’s meaning as he walks near the East End’s abandoned ore 
docks. 

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ANTHONY BUKOSKI grew up in Superior, Wisconsin. He teaches 
English at the University of Wisconsin in the port city where his 
Polish emigré grandparents settled. The author of three other story 
collections, including Children of Strangers (SMU, 1993) and 
Polonaise (SMU, 1999), Bukoski lives with his wife, Elaine, in the 
country outside Superior.



What people are saying about this book

"Bukoski loves the people and the country around Lake Superior 
as intensely as William Goyen loved East Texas or Wright Morris 
loved Nebraska."—Shirley Ann Grau