These 15 stories, written from the 1960s to the early 21st century --- and selected, revised and placed in order by the author himself shortly before he died in 2015 --- are a testament to the genius of E. L. Doctorow. In “A House on the Plains,” a mother has a plan for financial independence, which may include murder. “Jolene: A Life” follows a teenager who escapes her home for Hollywood on a perilous quest for success. “Heist,” the account of an Episcopal priest coping with a crisis of faith, was expanded into the bestseller CITY OF GOD. “The Water Works,” about the underbelly of 1870s New York, grew into a brilliant novel. “Liner Notes: The Songs of Billy Bathgate” is a corollary to the renowned novel and includes Doctorow’s revisions.

In a series of conversations, a cognitive scientist named Andrew relates salient events of his life to a person he refers to only as Doc. He speaks of his divorce from his wife and of the woman who took her place. But he digresses often to muse upon consciousness and disorders of the mind. ANDREW’S BRAIN is the story of a man attempting to make sense of the unexpected turns his life has taken.

From a master of modern American letters comes a collection of short fiction about people who, as E. L. Doctorow notes in his Preface, are somehow “distinct from their surroundings --- people in some sort of contest with the prevailing world.”