The much-praised stories that make up Here We Are in Paradise create entire worlds and indelible moments as only the best short fiction can do. The characters here are people caught in extremis, at points in their lives when their knowledge of their own heart is forced to change or grow, when they begin to understand another person truly, when the forces and places that have shaped them become clear to them at last.

The lovely "My Father's Heart" (named a Distinguished Story of 1992 in The Best American Short Stories) and "Aliceville" (selected by National Public Radio's "Sound of Writing" as one of the best stories of '92) explore a young man's awakening to a rural world taut with unspoken emotion.

"Charlotte," selected for The Best American Short Stories 1993 and New Stories from the South: The Year's Best 1993, is a muscular, funny story about the insecurities of early adulthood, revealed through the windows of romance and professional wrestling. The magisterial title story and "The Prophet from Jupiter" both look inside hearts full to bursting with loss and fury and lessons learned too late.

All these stories are set in North Carolina and exude a powerful sense of place, a place that breathes through every vivid, unforgettable character. It is rare that a first book of fiction displays such extraordinary gifts of understanding and craft. Tony Earley's stories will take up lodging in your memory and stay with you forever.