Montana has long drawn the outcasts and the dreamers, the searchers and the hiders. And the writers, including: Richard FordRalph Beers . Thomas McGuane . Chris Offutt . Pete Fromm . Mary Clearman Brew . William Kittredge . Rick Bass . Maile Meloy . Melanie Rae Thon . Claire Davis . David Long . Kim Zupan . Neil McMahon .Debra Earling . Jeanne Dixon . Rick DeMarinis . Jon Billman . Kevin Canty . and Annick Smith. The cast of characters in these stories is as big as the state. There's the cuckolded father in Richard Ford's classic, "Great Falls," or Ralph Beers's hero in "Big Spenders," sitting with his umbrella drink, dreaming about palm trees and white crescent beaches. And Thomas McGuane's narrator in "Like a Leaf," eavesdropping on the narrators and watching other people's lives. Chris Offutt's protagonist in "Tough People" is trying to earn enough money in amateur boxing to get out of town, while Mary Clearman Brew's narrator in "Bears and Lions" describes how her home is moving away from her-how the West is leaving her behind. Montana has for years been a special place for writers. THE BEST OF MONTANA'S SHORT FICTION is long overdue.