I think something is wrong with me because I like Carson McCullers, and she likes making her characters nightmarishly sad. While many write sorrow or grief, I have seen noone do both as simply as McCullers.

Nice to see a foreword by Tennessee Williams, although I'd disagree that this trumps The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. This novella, and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, both have the same ambience as The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, but seem to have more one-dimensional characters, a steadier plot pace and fewer subplots—they're almost too focused and direct in a way which makes the plot seem believable or varied. Little disappointed by the ending but otherwise consistently harrowing.