In this extraordinary collection, Faulkner captures the bitter tensions of America's Deep South. Beneath an unrelenting sun, the themes of pride, intense passion, the overbearing influence of women and the spectres of the past are played out in stories of memorable power. Faulkner's muscular, vivid prose lays bare the anguish of a land riven by violence and racial conflict, and the pathos, dignity and troubled history of its people. 'If you imagine Huckleberry Finn living in the House of Usher and telling stories white the walls crumble about him, that will give you the double quality of Faulkner's work at its best'