Tonight I Lie with William Cullen Bryant is literary fiction with touches of Southern Gothic, "coming-of-age, " mystery, and the humor that saves us daily. It offers a wry comment on race relations and proof that many of today's concerns (e.g., the American Dream, migrants, "gypsies, " victimization of the weak, and persistent blindness to that beneath the surface) were seeded in a past-that-teaches. All humans have "big" lives with the potential to enrich or subvert the human cause. A compelling novel written with masterful touch and attention to detail.