"Precisely chiseled blocks of soulful, funny, heart-rending fiction." —Ted Jonathan, author of Bones & Jokes "Rubin will take you on a gritty but glamorous tour through New Delhi, Italy, Wall Street, the French Riviera, Grand Canyon, and Brooklyn. . . . And still, you will be the one who's running to catch up with her wit, wisdom, and wondrously poetic narratives." —Michael Montlack, author of Cool Limbo Whether she's writing an engaging account of childhood memories from the Ukraine ("Otlichnitsa"), her family's quixotic immigration experiences ("Welcome to America"), or current romantic misadventures ("Curious Things at the W Hotel"), with a unique voice and sharp eye for detail, award-winning author Marina Rubin reveals the triumphant absurdities of contemporary times. Her stories and characters are all too human, too familiar, too flawed, and just charming enough to be endearing and unforgettable in these poetic, bite-sized short stories.