Tierra: Contemporary Short Fiction of New Mexico

"These 25 eminently readable stories by New Mexicans, many anthologized for the first time, reflect the heterogeneity of the state and its residents; alike only in that each expresses a unique response to the land, they evoke a definite sense of place. The best-known contributor here is mystery writer Tony Hillerman; in his 'Replacement,' a Native American soldier in WW II France remembers summer in Pottawatomie County. A refugee from the city is involved in a sordid squabble over the harvest from an apple tree on the property he rents in Robert Granat's 'My Apples.' Among other standouts are Terry Boren's 'Alba in Directed Light,' a futuristic, bleak romance; Anaya's ( Bless Me, Ultima ) own 'Iliana of the Pleasure Dreams,' about a peasant couple learning to love each other; and a clas sic western about a youth earning the respect of men, Marc Simmons's 'The Deputy.'" --from Publisher Weekly