"A CLIFF OF FALL" is a retrospective gathering of award winning stories and novellas. Set in the rural Midwest from the '40's through the '80's, they form a tableau of a time and region often overlooked or forgotten in recent years. The tone and style of the several narrators' range from the realistic to the lyrical and poetic to the nostalgic and reflective to the comic and satiric. They remain current regardless of years of change because they share enduring qualities of fiction appreciated by most thoughtful readers: common themes, humor, fullness of detail and character development, a subtle and pervasive moral vision, and a precision of style. None of these stories was written to address public topics or political, moral or economic issues during the years of their publication. Each begins in an imagined dramatic situation or personal condition and finds its own way to realization. None of these stories was written for profit, an achievement in which the author has been singularly successful.