Jay McInerney’s first novel, Bright Lights, Big City, was such a tremendous success it can often seem as though it's the only book he’s written. This book, his first collection of short stories, shows that underpinning the big reputation there’s an extremely skilful observer and storyteller. His acerbic wit translates well into the shorter form, which allows him to work his favourite ground — worlds in collision, relationships fragmenting and the dark underbelly of the American dream — without going stale. A transsexual prostitute accidentally propositions his own father; a senator's serial infidelities leave him in hot water; and two young lovers spend Christmas together high on different drugs. McInerney's characters struggle together in a shifting world where old certainties dissolve and nobody can be sure of where they stand.