Included in Tobias Wolff's book Back in the World are ten stories (ranging from "The Missing Person" to "The Rich Brother") which cover rather normal people in abnormal situations. In one story, a kind and gentle priest finds himself in a Las Vegas hotel room with a crazed, sun-burned stranger. In another, an older soldier embarks on a sexual escapade but is distracted by his neighbor (who happens to have a gun) and an enlisted man who is suicidal. In other words, Wolff's stories mix the real with surreal and the kind with the unkind and the violent.
Kirkus Reviews thought the book was solid but unremarkable. They wrote that the book is "A mostly too glib yet still promising display by a writer of evident talent and unsure direction." Acclaimed author Tim O'Brien thought differently, calling the book "Terrific" and saying "The magic of his fiction cannot be explained. It is the ancient art of the master storyteller." Publishers Weekly also loved the book, writing "The voice is crisp, the words are simple, the talk is laconic and everyday, but the questions these 10 stories pose are terrifying ones about good and evil."
