This energetic, well-told short fiction collection from Pettener features six short stories and a novella. "A Pointed Finger," the complex novella, concerns the close and remarkable friendship between Alfredo Crepuscolo, an art history professor in his 30s in South Florida, and Rosa, a 50-year-old divorcé and mother of three who manages a fast food restaurant.

Since they share an Italian heritage, Rosa opens up and relates the sad story of her difficult, poverty-stricken girlhood to Alfredo, beginning with "a pointed finger" that forces her to leave her native Italy and go reside on Long Island. Meantime, Alfredo is dealing with his own struggles to navigate the "filthy business" of academia politics to secure a tenured position and his livelihood.

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Source: http://www.publishersweekly.com/