In his first collection, HUNGER AND OTHER STORIES, the characters are driven by intense yearnings for the satisfaction of their most basic human desires. Some want intimacy, others acceptance, approval, security. All are thwarted by personal shortcomings, or the shortcomings of others, in their attempts to fulfill their longing. Here are stories of fathers and sons who cannot get along, people who use friendship merely as an avenue to career advancement, lovers for whom even sex isn't a way of communicating. Fourteen stories which "despite their restlessness," North American Review editor Robley Wilson says, "glitter with persistent hopes."