"A variety of characters--writers, attorneys, Vietnam vets, cops, soldiers--populate these stories in which situations frequently aren't what they seem. An old man knows more about the disappearance of a neighbor than he lets on. A barber is involved in something that brings a ski-mask wearing, gun-toting hoodlum into his shop. And a cop accused of using excessive force hasn't told his family the whole truth. Many of these gripping stories feature Mexican Americans struggling with their circumstances as an ethnic minority in the United States. Others cover historical events, from the Mexican Revolution to an encounter with Jack Kerouac"--Provided by publisher.