Despite his family's economic woes – and his occasionally having to lend a hand during the grape harvest – Muñoz performed very well in school.

Most of the stories in this first tome are set in the rural towns of the Central Valley of California, which resemble his hometown of Dinuba.

[2] David Ebershoff in a review for the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Muñoz has created a wholly authentic vision of contemporary California— one that has little to do with coastlines, cities or silicon.

Jeff Turrentine of The New York Times wrote of the collection: "His stories are far too rich to be classified under the limiting rubrics of "gay" or "Chicano" fiction; they have a softly glowing, melancholy beauty that transcends those categories and makes them universal.

[...] The lyrical prose and sensitive portrayal of the crime's ripple effect in the small community elevate this far beyond the typical noir.