When it appeared in 1997, Elizabeth Gilbert's first book, the story collection Pilgrims, immediately announced her compelling voice, her comic touch, and her rare sense of compassion. Richly varied in setting and content, these short stories track her diverse characters as they each pursue their own singular American pilgrimage. In the title story, a tough East Coast girl dares a Western cowboy to run off with her. In "The Famous Torn and Restored Cigarette Trick," a family of Hungarian musicians struggles for redemption in Pittsburgh, while in "At the Bronx Terminal Vegetable Market" an ignorant laborer is on an impossible and tragic quest for honor. "The heroes of Pilgrims . . . are everyday seekers" (Harper's Bazaar)—they may act blindly, especially about love, but they always act bravely, and they are unforgettable.