Summer Vacation And Other Stories

Male-female relationships are at the center of this collection of thirteen stories. Roughly half the stories take place in the United States and half in Chile. A common thread runs through these keenly sensitive stories: the women take the initiative, and the men, willingly or unwillingly, follow their lead. At one end of the spectrum, Ari, 14 years old, is awakening to his sexuality, and at the other, Al, almost 70 and a former college professor, sees a potential affair with a young woman as his last opportunity to indulge his taste for sexual mischief. Along the way we also meet Dora, a free-spirited woman who, thirty years earlier, was in hot pursuit of Sergio, a married man, but who now holds a secret he is determined to uncover; Josh, home for the summer after having completed his freshman year in college, who is torn between family expectations and his attraction for Sofia, a Colombian immigrant; and a gallery of other unique characters.