What a bizarre and interesting book. These short stories reminded me a little of the stories written by A.M. Homes and T.C. Boyle. I don't know exactly why, but they did. Some of them were funny, most were twisted, most had a fantastical feel, and I found almost all of them compelling to read.

There were many times as I read these stories when I thought, 'Oooo, this must be symbolism, it feels so blatant.' (I don't usually feel that way when I read novels even though I do usually recognize symbolism there too; short stories just remind me so much of high school reading that they almost feel like assignments, and I spend a lot of my reading time trying to pin down the significance rather than just enjoying the story.)

But I did enjoy these stories, even the creepy 'leper in love' one. ( )