Plain of Jars

In the opening story of Geary Hobson s riveting new collection, "Plain of Jars," a young private confides to his friend that he s trying to leave the Marine Corps. I am not doing this just because I find the Marine Corps too tough, Warren Needham says, but because violence is contradictory to his faith. The story s surprising climax, however, reveals a different side of Needham s contradictory nature. It s this acute understanding of conflict that characterizes "Plain of Jars," a book populated by bullies, men in combat, abusive spouses, and Native Americans seeking a sense of personal identity in an environment where conformity is law. The U.S. Marine Corps sets the stage for a number of these stories, whose protagonists combat racism, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and the looming reality of the Vietnam War. With pitch perfect dialogue and a sense of the unexpected, "Plain of Jars "tests the depths of complex lives."