Now available in Ecco's Art of the Story series: a never-before-published collection of stories from a brilliant yet little known African American artist and filmmaker - a contemporary of revered writers including Toni Cade Bambara, Laurie Colwin, Ann Beattie, Amy Hempel, and Grace Paley - whose prescient work has recently resurfaced to wide acclaim.

Humorous, poignant, perceptive, and full of grace, Kathleen Collins' stories masterfully blend the quotidian and the profound in a personal, intimate way, exploring deep, far-reaching issues - race, gender, family, and sexuality - that shape the ordinary moments in our lives.

In "The Uncle", a young girl who idolizes her handsome uncle and his beautiful wife makes a haunting discovery about their lives. In "Only Once", a woman reminisces about her charming daredevil of a lover and his ultimate - and final - act of foolishness. Collins' work seamlessly integrates the African American experience in her characters' lives, creating rich, devastatingly familiar, full-bodied men, women, and children who transcend the symbolic, penetrating the listener's head and heart.

Both contemporary and timeless, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? is a major addition to the literary canon and is sure to earn Kathleen Collins the widespread recognition she is long overdue.