What are the motifs in The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories by Tobias Wolff?

Bodies play an extremely important role throughout the short stories in this volume, particularly the bodies of women and bodies in relationship to women. In "The Darling," for example, Dolores tries to take control of her own life by murdering and dismembering other people's bodies. The line between violence and sex is often blurred as for the sadistic and masochistic couple in "A Romantic Weekend." This distinction comes up elsewhere in different forms. For example, in "Home," the mother's body has been violently deformed by various botched surgeries, further separating her from the extreme physicality of her daughter, whose sexuality finally drives a wedge between them.