Five Fingers Make a Fist

The 28 stories in Five Fingers Make a Fist meld science, poetry, theater, and hyperrealism to explore life's adventures from varying points of view. From a baby narrator in "My Birth" to an old woman waiting to die in "The Ballad of Nariyama," the characters become so intent on their creations that they start to believe their own stories about themselves and the world. Though largely set in San Francisco of the 1990s, the stories are universal in their insight and appeal.