In a series of short, increasingly more connected chapters, this unusual novel provides a panoramic view of a Chicago neighborhood. The diverse set of characters includes a black mailman and an elderly Jewish widow on his route, a Vietnamese-American teenager, a songwriter who works in a flower shop, and a gay couple whose relationship is crumbling. Andrew Winston's first novel is a humorous and vividly depicted web of interrelated lives that demonstrates the ways in which big cities are really nothing but a collection of small towns. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.