Borrowed Hearts traces the development of Rick DeMarinis's incantatory voice, including both his most recent work and stories selected from his three previous, highly acclaimed collections: Under Wheat (1986), the winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize for short fiction; The Coming of the Free World, a New York Times Notable Book (1988); and The Voice of America (1991). The title story was included in 1991's The Best Stories of the South, and "Your Story" was chosen to be read on National Public Radio's Selected Shorts.