Big Bend

Through quirky plots one-of-kind characters and more than a few twists the stories in Big Bend examine gentle-hearted men and their relationships.From made-in-heaven meetings to troublesome liaisons Roorbach's characters experience romance in unexpected sometimes disastrous ways. In Fog a teenage boy learns hard lessons about canoes the Gulf of Maine sex and love. A struggling young artist goes home for the holidays in search of succor for the stomach?and heart?with poor results in Thanksgiving. Other stories recount the ultimately disastrous reunion of estranged friends an unemployed architect's foolish courting with bad company and a middle-aged rock star's struggle with the urge to settle down. In the tiitle story Big Bend a grieving widower troubled by his own waning years is tempted by a seductively attentive birdwatcher no older than his daughter. Poignant tales of hauntingly familiar situations Bill Roorbach's stories are full of heart romance edgy humor and the frequently concealed vulnerability of men.