Laura Austin Wiley

Jitterbug Waltz and Other Stories Laura Austin Wiley

Jitterbug Waltz is a collection of four short stories. In "Jitterbug Waltz," an elderly accountant accompanies his son-in-law to dance lessons at the Arthur Murray dance studio-and gets a few lessons of his own in the art of romance. "Eucalyptus Hill" introduces a middle-aged, unemployed man attempting to achieve a fitness goal while fending off the real and remembered verbal attacks of his older sister. In "Filling the Cavities," a recently-widowed dentist contemplates his upcoming retirement with a mixture of hope and despair. "The Art of Reading Charts" deals with an eye doctor who takes up the saxophone in his fifties, and suddenly sees the world through different eyes. These stories deal with the familiar themes of middle age-love, loss, dysfunctional families, music and dancing.