The first stories in this baker's dozen are set in the fictive Guess County, Oklahoma, and trace the county's evolution from the times of folk lore to today's manicured tourist traps. In them you will meet the shape-shifter Jake Skin, a pioneer couple who bring life back into their relationship by saving the life of an infant, and adolescents shedding their youth while coming to terms with their place and heritage. The Guess County tales are accompanied by stories set somewhere else. Two stories investigate "gothic" mental states, two stories have their origins in the Vietnam war, and two stories deal with creative urges and loving obsessions. The last story is a fanciful creation tale. Welcome to Oklahoma and Else, a territory where there is violence, guile, and survivor's guilt, but where there is also hope and music, even in a glass of wine