Twenty-One — Ward Just

This masterly volumn contains the best shorter fiction written by Just over the last 25 years. "The working life, the war, politics, love affairs, and marriage seem to be the waters in which my boat sets sail," Just writes. He is intimately at home in places where most writers simply dare not venture, and his accounts of life as it is lived behind the scenes in places of power have the ring of flawless authenticity. Here is a generous selection of the work that has earned Just the reputation as "one of the most astute writers of American fiction."