The collection includes 13 original stories by the author.[1]
Contents
"The Journey of a Lifetime"
"Do You Love Me?"
"The Uses of Williamson Wood"
"The Last Days of a Famous Mime"
"A Schoolboy Prank"
"The Chance"
"Fragrance of Roses"
"The Puzzling Nature of Blue"
"Ultra-violet Light"
"Kristu-Du"
"He Found Her in Late Summer"
"Exotic Pleasures"
"War Crimes"
Critical reception
Writing in The Canberra Times Marion Halligan noted: "This imagination of Carey's is a source of amazement throughout the collection of stories. One is conscious of the elaborate construction of other worlds, as close to ours as the reflection in a faintly distorting mirror. The discrepancies tantalise. Carey mostly writes in a grave formal prose the more surrealistic the stories...Myths, fables for our time, worlds of the imagination that illuminate as they cast doubt on the real world: Carey's stories are a stimulating excursion into the relevance of the mysterious. He charms, he amazes, he appals, he amuses; our emotions are not often run through so full a gamut."[2]
Publication history
After its original publication in 1979[3] the collection was reprinted by the University of Queensland Press in 1981[1] and 1984.[4]