Ben Shattuck has returned to familiar terrain – both figurative and literal – for his debut collection of short stories, The ...

Cuenca, early 1990s. Amelia takes care of her soul friend Miguel, sick with AIDS, who, in his last wish, expresses his desire to receive the last rites and tells Amelia a secret that no one ever knew.

But just a few days ago, when I was told to talk at a panel discussion about writing (or not writing) about love, I started looking back at my stories with an analytical eye and discovered that ...