In these ten stories， Ford mines literary gold from the wind-scrubbed landscape of the American West--and from the guarded hopes and gnawing loneliness of the people who live there. Rock Springs is a masterpiece of taut narration， cleanly chiseled prose， and empathy so generous that it feels like a kind of grace."Beautifully imagined and crafted stories， by turns heartrending and wickedly funny; and just plain wicked. Richard Ford is a born storyteller with an inimitable lyric voice， and Rock Springs is the very poetry of realism."--Joyce Carol Oates