In turns poignant, melancholy, darkly humorous, and intense, these short stories take a range of forms, including updated fairy tales, ghost stories, a letter to a son, and conventional narrative. They remind the reader (both parents and children) of the trials of growing up, of trying to relate to one's parents (and children), of the sly drag of genetic inheritance, and of the gnawing fears, self-doubt, and self-centeredness that serve to complicate our life choices, undermine our hopes, and fracture our relationships. However, there's room here too for the redemption offered by human warmth, and one story is here (mainly) to provide light relief. This book may make you laugh, cry, and feel uncomfortable, but in touching on such a range of human experience and emotion, it serves to let you know that in the sometimes wretched business of struggling against your loneliness, limitations, fears and weaknesses, you are not, after all, alone, but united with the rest of us.
