Set in the town of Arcadia in upstate New York, the stories in this collection address the unspoken issues—homosexuality, masturbation, alcoholism, to name a few—lurking just beneath the surface of the small-town ideal.The Sunnier Side showcases Jackson at the height of his storytelling powers, reaffirming his reputation as a boundary-pushing, irreverent writer years ahead of his time.

    Reynard agrees to undertake military training with him, but as he becomes more deeply involved he is drawn into a struggle with mysterious and irrational forces which are to threaten his sanity. The Image of a Drawn Sword is Jocelyn Brooke's only true novel. Yet in this exploration of friendship, sexuality, guilt, alienation and power he reveals an underlying autobiographical element in which his own physical experiences in the army are translated into a Kafkaesque vision where fantasy and reality are disturbingly blurred.