Last Chance to Renew — Scott Randall

The short-story collection Last Chance to Renew by Scott Randall is a rare jewel. Set in southern Ontario, from the Ottawa Valley to the Toronto area, these stories examine the small moments in ordinary lives with exacting detail and intimate characterization. Randall looks into the minds of men who are coping with the same problems as their wives are -- marriage, pregnancy, home-buying, child-rearing and widowhood -- but from the male perspective. Rarely are women given such telling glimpses into the minds of ordinary, middle-class men, often not even their own husbands.