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This is the first collection of startlingly original stories by a new writer who promises to become a major presence in Canadian literature. At the heart of Zsuzsi Gartner's technically innovative, darkly humorous and exuberant prose is a cri de coeur for personal responsibility as the sun sets on a 20th Century in which media is omnipresent and everyone's a victim. There are no innocent bystanders here, though. A woman calls in fake bomb threats from the 19th floor of a bank tower as revenge against her ex-lover. A man copy-edits a manual on organic extermination while his girlfriend lets a talking fetus know who's the boss. A newspaper editor chokes on death and open-faced chiliburgers during the graveyard shift and insists it doesn't affect her after all. Lured into the wilderness by desire for a man who builds vintage airplanes, a woman finds she lusts more for almond biscotti and city sidewalks. Scouted by the acclaimed novelist Barbara Gowdy, Zsuzsi Gartner dazzles with these nine stories of truly unique literary sensibility.