Amy Bloom has long been regarded as a master of the short story form. Here, her brilliance shines across two decades and more than twenty-five stories. From the bereaved widow who finds unexpected comfort in 'Sleepwalking', to the matchmaking shrink in 'Psychoanalysis Changed My Life'; from the teenage girl furious at her dying mother in 'Hold Tight' to the transgressive lovers of 'The Gates Are Closing'; from the married friends irresistibly drawn to one another in 'William and Clare' to the brave and heartless girl in 'Permafrost' - these are stories brimming with life and grief, erotically-charged and beautifully crafted.

Amy Bloom is the New York Times bestselling author of five novels: I'll Be Right Here, White Houses, Lucky Us, Away, and Love Invents Us; and three collections of short stories: Where the God of Love Hangs Out, Come to Me (finalist for the National Book Award), and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award). Her memoir, In Love, has also received wide acclaim. She has written for magazines such as the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Elle, and the Atlantic, and her work has been translated into seventeen languages. She is the director of the Shapiro Center at Wesleyan University.