Stories set in Santa Barbara by Ross MacDonald, Wallace Stegner, Marvin Mudrick, John Sayles, Nicholson Baker, Dennis Lynds, Sheila Golburgh Johnson, Shelly Lowenkopf, Gayle Lynds, Salvatore LaPuma, T.C. Boyle, John M. Daniel, and Catherine Ryan
What a wonderful book! All stories take place in or near Santa Barbara and are written by authors who lived in Santa Barbara. T C Boyle wrote a heart-stopping story about a marathon. John M Daniel wrote a brilliant story about the Painted Cave Fire in 1991 (my first experience of fires in Santa Barbara). John Sayles wrote about our annual Old Spanish Days from a Latino perspective. I loved reading about places I've been.
This collection is unbalanced and overall weak with the exception of a few interesting stories (T.C. Boyle's She Wasn't Soft and John Sayles' Old Spanish Days) and one I liked bestest: From Out There.
I’m not big on running gamuts. More of a walker. But this book is one worth running: Wallace Stegner, Nicholson Baker, John Sayles, Ross Macdonald Margaret Millar, Salvatore LaPuma, and T. Coraghessan Boyle.