Astronauts & other stories

the long version

"In "Astronauts," the title story, two brothers - one manic depressive and the other just divorced - drive across the country in a last-ditch attempt at reconciliation. In "Make Them Laugh," a priest is put on parole for crashing his car into a police vehicle, and keeps his tooth in a jar to remind himself what drinking seven glasses of whisky can do. "Ross Willow's New and Used Cars" centers on a used car salesman who loses his son in the Vietnam War, then his family in the aftermath. In "The Clear Blue Water," a San Francisco cabdriver finds himself stranded in the middle of the El Centro desert, meeting his past where he thought he might escape it. "Wedding Dance" introduces us to a family and slowly reveals each member, their individual hopes and aspirations, and the inexorable ties between them."--BOOK JACKET.