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Susan Patrick is a librarian at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Death, dismemberment, and black humor figure prominently in the surreal
flights of fantasy that fill this slim volume of short stories. A man
keeps waking up from the dead—to the dismay of his family—until
finally they all move into a crypt together. A person keeps chopping off
limbs by mistake with kitchen tools while cooking. A psychotic woman
conjures up a snake to eat her social worker and psychiatrist.
Macdonald’s stories are populated by characters with obsessions, and
grim fortune tellers predict that fate cannot be overcome. Throughout
this collection, characters undergo bizarre life-changing experiences
that bring about a new reality. To adjust to that reality, they usually
withdraw from the world; isolation is the safe “home” they find. The
stories are most remarkable for the author’s outlandish imagination
and the vivid images he creates.