Weekend in the Luberon and Other Stories

Publisher Marketing: These stories are arranged by the age of the principal characters from youngest to oldest. Time Zones follows the cross-country love affair of a young couple, one of whom lives and works in New York and the other in San Francisco. Although they are unsuited for each other, under the spell of the affair they mismanage their paths and plans, leading to a richly appropriate outcome. In Still Life Tom, an artist, meets Kate, a photographer, at an all-night diner. They both recognize their complementary interests and begin an affair. Then Kate discovers that breast cancer, which she thought she had conquered, has returned. She confronts wrenching alternatives about her treatment and the continuation of her love affair with Tom. The drama moves back and forth between Kate's and Tom's point of view. First Born chronicles the experience of a widower whose only son decamps after high school to drive old cars in demolition derbies across the south. The son returns unexpectedly with a girl friend and a new baby. When he leaves without them soon after, his father becomes emotionally entangled with the girl and faces a morally ambiguous choice. In the novella Weekend in the Luberon, Freddy, a writer and intellectual, tells how a diamond necklace mysteriously disappeared from the possessions of his father-in-law at the time of death. Freddy's wife Susan is certain it was intended as a gift to her. The story is driven by Susan's relentless greed and Freddy's excessive timidity. Susan believes that her brother David took the necklace, and she is determined to retrieve it. Freddy resists and tries to dissuade her. Nevertheless Susan assembles a group of self-interested friends to help her recover the necklace. The action is set in the south of France, rich with the colors and aromas of Provence. The actors include Werner, a sardonic and light-fingered Swiss ski instructor who has amorous designs on Susan, and Inga, Werner's drop-dead gorgeous Swedish wife. Susan's cousin Chris, a tinkerer and manufacturer, insults everyone and bungles his assignment, leading to a tragic and sobering outcome. The last two stories, The Perfect Glaze and Harry Waiting, evoke the emotionally challenging questions we face at the end of a partner's life and our own. Contributor Bio:  Long, Dixon DIXON LONG moved to the San Francisco Bay area after many years as a professor of political science and dean at Case Western Reserve University. In addition to writing, he keeps honeybees and prays for their survival. Dixon has published several novels, available on Amazon.com. The first, Brothers, a family drama that moves among New York, Tokyo, Paris and Provence, was published in 2001. A Very Rich Man, the story of a wealthy, dysfunctional family, appeared in 2007. An international political thriller, Running Without Lights, came out in 2010. His collection of short stories and a novella, Weekend in the Luberon, followed in 2012. Love Maybe, in 2013, traces the emotional evolution of a man whose wife leaves him for a woman. And finally, Sea of Troubles, also 2013, follows the fortunes of an ambitious college president who makes every conceivable mistake. Dixon is also co-author of Markets of Provence (HarperCollins, 1996) and Markets of Paris (2d ed., 2012), a comprehensive guide to open-air food markets as well as markets for crafts, books, prints, art, antiques, clothing, fabrics and more.