Kevin Watson's collection of eight short stories all take place in Morgan Grove, a small Ozark town built from bits and pieces of the many towns the author visited while fishing and canoeing the rivers and streams of the Missouri Ozarks. The people, too, are fictitious, but their problems are real. So is the spirit that moves them to visit an introvert's monument, to protect a secret pond, to serve a bad breakfast, and to try and write a kind obituary for the town grouch. A visit to Morgan Grove is like visiting the heart of America.