In this his first collection of stories, George Little examines the lives of parents, siblings, friends and politicians, offering fleeting glimpses into the moral complexity of contemporary relationships. In the title story, "The Many Deaths of George Robertson," a man rediscovers himself by rewriting his past; in "Marooned," an old woman is haunted by the memory of a shipwreck and her lost child; in "The Beauty of Holiness," a leather-bound book evokes memories of a man's boyhood relationship with his strict Presbyterian grandmother.

Throughout these stories, George Little probes the gathering storm of moral dilemma where indecision is illuminated by flashes of astonished laughter.