My Hard Bargain Author:Walter Kirn My Hard Bargain was hailed as "an impressive debut" by The Wall Street Journal, and "substantial and down to earth" by the New Yorker. The exalted, memorable characters in Kirn's acclaimed debut short story collection confront the real hard bargains in life that spring up from the business of simply living, and Kirn trans... more »forms these hard-luck stories into strapping moral lessons which evoke the bonds that unite us all.« less