The recognition of failure and success is the theme of these eight short stories and the title novella from three-time National Book Award finalist Hortense CalisherExtreme Magic is Hortense Calisher's third collection of shorter works, after In the Absence of Angels (1951) and Tale for the Mirror (1962). Follow a drifting husband as he returns home and finds middle age in "e;A Christmas Carillon."e; Listen with a daughter as she overhears a painful argument between her parents in "e;The Gulf Between."e; Travel with a broken man as he heals after a tragic loss in "e;Extreme Magic."e; Once again, Calisher captivates with her expressionistic prose and intricate characters.