This is the reissue of the award-winning stories of one of America's great authors. Set mostly on Chicago's South Side, these eighteen stories describe ordinary people whose lives are transformed by small acts of chance or will. From depictions of the ordered urban enclaves of the black middle class to the dank and dirty tenements of the lonely city's poor, Colter's sharp, spare prose etches perceptive portraits of people who endure and overcome the most severe threats to their spirits. This edition of The Beach Umbrella also contains four stories originally published in the collection The Amoralists. A distinguished attorney and public servant, Cyrus Colter took up writing in midlife and, after retiring from the law, devoted himself not only to his art but also to teaching.