Kathy Baker

Eccentricity defines daily life in Rome, Wisconsin, where the Tin Man from "The wizard of Oz" is murdered, a student brings a severed hand to school for show-and-tell, and a woman runs over her husband with a steam roller pleading "not guilty by reason of menopause." Sheriff Jimmy Brock has seen it all. Indeed, behind the tidy picket fences of this quirky little town lie all the same problems and prejudices found in the big city, except here everyone...

Edward was the finest creation of the inventor who lived on the hill. His only fault was that he was left unfinished when the inventor died suddenly, so instead of hands, Edward has scissors at the end of his arms. He lives in darkness at the top of the hill until a kindly Avon lady takes him home, where Edward tries to adjust to suburban life.

Homer Wells grows up in an orphanage in remote St. Cloud, Maine. Dr. Larch, who also provides medically safe, if illegal, abortions, runs the orphanage. Homer is Dr. Larch's favorite, and over the years, Dr. Larch trains Homer as his successor. Homer thus becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. Homer, however, yearns for a life outside the orphanage. When Wally and pregnant Candy come for an abortion, Homer leaves with them to work on Wally's...