Notes

A collection of 24 short stories by one of New Zealand's top living writers of short stories. Funny, affectionate, astute and touching, they explore the worlds of small-town communities, their loves and losses, and their dreams.Owen Marshall possesses a matchless ability to move easily from sharp comedy to elegiac sadness, from the delightfully accurate pricking of pretensions to the moving examination of the deepest human emotions and frailties. Marshall is never content to mine old ground. His familiar small-town and rural landscapes have their place in WHEN GRAVITY SNAPS but so, too, do smart urban parties, the pettiness of school and university hierarchies, the perspectives of elderly men and women with long, rich lives behind them, the search for human connection and warmth in an often capricious world. Funny, moving, challenging and memorable, this new collection of beautifully calibrated stories will be welcomed by Marshall fans, and new readers, everywhere.