Every single character, client, and of course the narrator are pure Gold. I loved all three of these books, and there's talk of a fourth. Can't wait.

Cosley covers all parts of desert noir social work. He's committed to his work, and clear eyed about his clients. He writes it all: absurd, funny, sad, and angry. There's a big beating heart in all this desert noir.

I finished Volume 3 feeling like I'd been sitting in the passenger seat of Cosley's beat-up car for hours, sometimes cracking up, sometimes just staring out the window trying not to cry. The humor here is sharper and more savage than before: the Ham Wallet incident still makes me snort every time I think about it, and the Korey chapters (losing weight, bus negotiations, food rants) are absurdly funny in that way only real desperation can be. There's a lightness to the absurdity (Strawberry, Big Ol' Gay Mr. Beaujolais, the Clue Board game gone wrong) that sneaks up on you and makes you laugh out loud in public like a fool.

But the sorrow runs underneath like groundwater, cold and constant. The Chemo piece, the ER visits, South Dakota John Doe, the unsent emails, they land heavier because the funny stories remind you how fragile everything is. I kept thinking about how Cosley writes these people with such clear-eyed affection, even when they're impossible, even when they're gone. The humor doesn't cancel the grief; it makes it sharper. By the end, with "Did I Do Any Good" and "Will Things Improve," I wasn't laughing anymore. I was just sitting there, grateful someone bothered to write it all down exactly like this.This volume feels like the most honest one yet. It hurts, it makes you laugh at inappropriate moments, and it stays with you. If the series is building to something, this is where the ache really settles in. Highly recommended, but maybe read it with tissues nearby.

I am amazed by your ability to see, and describe vividly, the absurd, pungent realities underlying the seeming banalities of life.