Both startling and funny, Kate Pullinger creates stories that probe our relationships, with our friends, with our lovers, and with our family. Richard, who finds being middle-aged isn't all it's made out to be, cannot bring himself to phone his father. Squatters in London's abandoned Vauxhall Palace form an ersatz family soon faced with strains of close living. A flatsitter is overwhelmed by the uncomfortable familiarity brought on by living her friends' space. A birthday video sent to a co-worker spirals into an overnight Internet phenomenon.

Short stories.