''A perfectly formed set of stories about alienation in modern times'' Independent''Mesmerizing - almost ecstatic'' The New York TimesMary Gaitskill''s coolly compelling, quietly devastating stories explore the messy complexity of relationships between lovers, families and friends. An unsettling encounter on a plane; a tentative affair between an older woman and a younger man; the chasm between a father and his daughter: each expresses our longing for, and our fear of, human connection.