Eight brilliant stories by a master of the form, author of the classic 'Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam' and 'The Kiss'

A contented woman finds herself considering a bizarre sexual invitation that just days before filled her with scorn. A mediocre man is pulled into a strange dance with his stalker. A father gives his daughter a Christmas present with a disturbing history. An ugly sports parent plays a game of ridiculous chance. A young boy's music lesson offers him a discordant insight into adult behaviour. And in a primal tale about the borderline between animals and humans, death is horrifyingly not the end of the story . . .

Compulsively readable, pitch-perfect in mood, Gravel ponders the forces that can wear down a marriage, darken desire, lead people to thwart their best intentions.

'Short fictions in the best sense of the term: concise, self-contained and specific … yet complex and allusive, suggesting far greater substance than they seem at first to contain.'
Andrew Riemer, Sydney Morning Herald

'Intelligent and adult . . . edgy, assured and titillating'
Nigel Krauth, Weekend Australian

'Pure gold and a worthy addition to an already remarkable oeuvre.'
William Yeoman, West Australian