serendipity! the book i picked up in northshire, near randomly -- on sale, looked appealing -- deborah eisenberg's short stories so far contains one of my all-time favorite stories that i read once years ago in a class; then lost; then couldn't remember either (a) the name of or (b) the name of its author. "days"! it's thrilling and somehow very satisfying. and, i should note, it is precisely as good as i remembered.