<I>The Bridge of San Luis Rey</I>, Thornton Wilder's second novel, won him the first of his three Pulitzer Prizes. The novel opens in the aftermath of an inexplicable tragedy&mdash;a tiny footbridge in Peru breaks, and five travelers hurtle to their deaths. Most townspeople think to themselves with secret joy, &quot;Within 10 minutes myself...." <p>But for Brother Juniper, a humble Franciscan friar who witnesses the catastrophe, the question is inescapable: Why those five? Suddenly, Brother Juniper is committed to discover what manner of lives these five disparate people led&mdash;and whether it was divine intervention that took their lives, or a capricious fate. <p>Wilder maintained in his works that true meaning and beauty are found in ordinary experience. This is especially true of <I>The Bridge of San Luis Rey</I>. From the very beginning to the stunning conclusion, the listener is absorbed into the individual stories of the five victims, and how their destinies intertwine.