The short stories included in this book were collected together about ten years ago. I noticed one thematic link between some of the stories: main characters who have active lives of the imagination coupled with a difficult attitude towards authority. Also, two of the stories feature psychoactive drugs administered to the protagonist to produce bizarre behavior. Some of the stories seem to be set in a world slightly different from the one we recognize, usually not for the better. The author takes care to put the characters through difficulties with little chances of rescue by an indifferent society around them, which pulls us right into their emotional world. The reader spends a lot of time inside the thoughts of the viewpoint characters as they muddle though whatever predicament they find themselves in.

I really enjoyed the stories and the way the author worked to ennoble characters who exhibited weakness either of intellect or moral quality, living close to the edge of a society. I listened to the audiobook version of this, read by Saunders himself. I think this enhanced the sense of intimacy with the characters he wrote about. The way a story turned out was not obvious from its first few minutes.