Rooke is an original...Deliberately eccentric ...deliciously inventive, always rewarding.--The Washington Post The two novellas and three short stories in this new collection by the critically-acclaimed, North Carolina-born author Leon Rooke are united by place and mood. Set largely in the post-WWII American South, peopled by Watermelon Queens and ten-year-old business men, these joyful, touching, brilliantly crafted pieces speak to a time and sensibility long forgotten. Leon Rooke is a novelist, short story writer, editor, and critic. He has published twenty-eight books, nearly three hundred short stories, and is the recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature.