In The Middle-Aged Man & the Sea, Meeks offers us a collection to savor, one that will leave us thinking about our days, perhaps propel us to change them. These stories, especially the deceptively simple title story, harken to other stories of the sea. It reaches out to grasp us by the id, just as this haunting literary theme has done for eons of time from The Old Man and the Sea and Moby Dick back to Noah and innumerable Greek myths.

Meeks' entire collection -- stories from his own archives that were once published in journals -- explores how we live or don't live, sigh and don't sigh, kiss and don't kiss. One story, "Green River," looks at marriage and family life juxtaposed against a remote area of Utah where the Jurassic is still evident and, yes, more water -- the isolated tributary of the Colorado -- runs through it. Then there is "Dear Ma," the last story in the collection. Once read, you will begin to tally the pleasures in life more frequently, make them count.

So, discard your classics -- for a moment, anyway. Cast aside those novels you love. Have at a collection of stories for a change. The Middle-Aged Man & the Sea will make you glad that you did.