Neal Barrett, Jr. jumps in and out of genres at will, or simply invents one of his own. He likes to bring his favorite characters together, and see what they’ll do. In “Sallie C.” he puts The Wright Brothers, young Erwin Rommel and Sheriff Pat Garrett in a shabby hotel out west. “Highbrow” finds generations of devoted workers building a half-mile high statue of Richard Nixon. “Tony Red Dog” describes the trials and tribulations of the only Apache in the New York mob.

This collection includes a number of dark and funny views of the future, including:

• “Under Old New York”
• “Radio Station St. Jack”
• “Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus”