"" And there are many worse ones. Not even Sister Corita's dazzling colors and designs--over which Pintauro's words are written--wilt make the reader want to pick up this book again once he has put it down. -- Kirkus review

THE STORY: In an opening scene, a man dies an agonizing death from AIDS.

THE STORY: Rocco Lazarra has been in a rehab institution since a suicide attempt uncovered a manic-depressive disorder.

THE STORY: Atop the arctic world, pilgrim members of a Detroit family huddle around a giant soup pot filled with nothing but melting ice and a gauze-wrapped raccoon head.

THE STORIES: The opening play is Mr. Pintauro's DAWN: Quentin and his sister Veronica, together with his wife Pat, gather at the beach to scatter their mother's ashes.

THE STORY: The play chronicles the fate of a fishing family on the East End of Long Island.

THE STORIES: In the first play, CHARLIE AND VITO, two brothers meet in the younger one's room the night before the older brother's wedding.

THE STORIES: PART I: SEYMOUR IN THE VERY HEART OF WINTER.