Douglas Watson's debut story collection is chock-a-block with deaths, births, sea and land voyages, excursions to the library, philosophical asides, and things like wolves.

Within the pellucid surface of these stories moves a surprising warmth and affection. People fall in and out of love, walk in and out of buildings, take two steps forward and two steps back. Life is discovered on the moon, only to make the earth feel more lonely. Futility is a theme of the book, but so is the necessity of trying. These spare, intricate stories bring a masterful edge of truth to a bleak and tender world.