Women who Sleep with Animals

Book excerpt: In settings that range from suburbs to wildlife reserves, from the eastern to the western U.S., Norris's characters negotiate sex, marriage, infidelity, racism, cancer, war, aging and loss with the companionship of each other and the critters-both pets and the wild ones. Biologists, retail salespeople, artists, professors, wives, mothers, and lovers encounter problems that no one looks for. Moments of revelation feature luck and compassion. These stories lay bare our most heartfelt desires: for intimacy, for community, for connection to that person or place that will, finally, prove to us that, in the words of Raymond carver, we are beloved on the earth--Cover p. [4].