Slipshod and Standing

<p>Ranging from Detroit to the north woods and Lake Michigan coast-with a glimpse of the desert mountains-the collected stories of Slipshod and Standing are about runners skiers migrant farmworkers social workers fathers mothers lovers and-for many-the great lake that has shaped them. In Merritt Reef and the Big Parade the runner Merritt Reef yearning for his ailing father's approval looks to medal in a half-marathon and finds through the rigors and sacrifice of competing something wholly unexpected at the finish of the race. In the pure Michigan surroundings of Snow Country Mark Silver a reporter and Jew befriends a migrant farmworker and her young son and experiences a crisis in faith as he attempts to overcome his fear of providing them a Christmas tree. For readers who love seasonal change the Great Lakes woodsy trails and wandering souls committed to the outdoors as a means of salvation Makiefsky delivers.</p>