A calculus formula, a calculating boy, a young woman who is intelligent but unwise — the ingredients for a gripping story and the thematic fulcrum for The Limit of Delta Y Over Delta X, a rivetting new collection of stories by Halifax writer Richard Cumyn.

In this idiosyncratic collection of stories, Cumyn explores the surface tension between men and women and those rare moments of insight that often accompany loss. Casting his imagination over the territory extending from adolescence to middle-age, Cumyn finds plenty to contemplate and lots to laugh about as the men and women of his stories brushup against each other, sometimes violently, and often humorously.