A collection of stories set in western Australia includes the stories of brothers who shun one another, ex-lovers who reunite to remember their incompatibility, and a man who returns to the site of a frightening childhood event. Painful, raw, eloquent—these tales comprise a powerful defense for a much maligned genre, the short story collection. It’s no surprise that many of the stories here have been previously published in literary journals like The Threepenny Review . Winton’s language is taut, his characterization masterful, and the local color pitch-perfect. But what truly sets these stories apart is their emotional impact: they are subtle yet stirring and sensuous. Winton has been short-listed for the Booker Prize twice and is acclaimed in his native Australia. This collection will likely earn him the attention he deserves in the United States. Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. The currents and themes sinuously winding through Winton's spellbinding collection of short stories are almost too numerous to mention. Despair, longing, abandonment, abuse, violence, tenderness: they cover the gamut of human emotions and conditions, but do so in such a subtle, masterful way so as not to burden the reader with sensory overload. It's enough just to go along for the ride as Winton revists a favored locale, a blighted fishing village along Australia's western coast, following a band of characters as their compelling stories connect and overlap, quixotically veering off on dizzying tangents in one story, only to solidly converge later on to reveal pivotal points from their pasts or resolve enigmatic issues in the future. Withal, Winton creates a sense of place so profound one can almost smell the oily fumes from marine slaughterhouses. More than isolated vignettes, Winton's stories are of a whole, seamless, sensuous, and utterly captivating. Carol Haggas Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved