In these thirty-eight luminous short stories George Thomas Clark presents a smorgasbord of mysteries, adventures, and issues. Edgar Allan Poe may have been murdered. Promising actor Martin Stevens drinks and drugs himself from Hollywood to the streets. Extraterrestrials benignly dominate the earth until they suddenly demand humans make Bakersfield the world's greatest city. A shy teacher becomes an obsessive art collector and then his favorite painters start to die. The author of a biographical novel with portions critical of French behavior before and during World War II goes to Paris to promote his book. A lonely Nebraska farmer learns Spanish so he can visit Mexico City and pursue the beautiful women he sees on television. A scholarly couple time travel back to the Battle of Stalingrad and find they can't return. General MacArthur speaks about matters personal and historical. A family is ravaged by colon cancer. A beautiful, bestselling female author enrages three male writers in New York City. Earnest Hemingway visits Frida Kahlo in her Blue House. Thomas Jefferson is prosecuted for mistreatment of slaves. A bold investor should have been more careful. So should many other characters in this stunning collection.