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Described in the preface as a "literary buffet," this book takes its audience on a variety of intellectual and linguistic journeys. Characters like Didymus, who have "no sense of poetry," and others like Cupid—"aged sixty, sagging, gray"—offer comical, intellectual insights into human nature and humanity's complexities. In other stories, like "By the Book," a wise speaker acknowledges that as one ages, "portions of your past keep disappearing," as strange happenings make the speaker think they have found their own story in one of the books they own. In "Silent Voices," things take a modern turn as texting leads to sexting, and an affair's revelation tests a relationship, leading to "The Love Room," where a mysterious entity haunts a space they refuse to leave.
The stories in this book fascinate and awe. They are filled with psychological elements that jar, shock, and make individuals think about the people they encounter on the street, on sidewalks, in stores, and elsewhere. People will find characters with whom they can identify, and they will discover characters that remind them of those they interact with on a daily basis. Structural brevity reinforces many of the stories' linguistic cleverness and the psycho-emotional tug. Part Vonnegut, part Pynchon, these stories are a great read for anyone in need of some dark humor and a new way of looking at the world, at relationships, and at the myriad of objects, happenings, and beings that cross one's path and form stories of their own. This book is definitely a page-turner.