The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories

’02. Through a compilation of short stories that are funny, persuasive and compelling, Rutherford explores the ways in which the world can unexpectedly reveal its darker aspects. In stories that have been or will soon be published in Ploughshares, American Short Fiction, The Best American Short Stories and other publications, Rutherford’s characters—parents, children, camp counselors, Confederate soldiers and futuristic whalers, to name a few—are forced to recognize and come to terms with the limitations of their own lives.