Displaying a confident diversity of narrative voices and brevity in style, this collection of short stories reflects the author's experiences in Central Australia, China, Mexico, and Russia. In "The Wind and Other Children," a girl searches for her lost grandmother while her parents quarrel at home; a man contemplates inertia after toxic contamination changes life in a remote Australian town in "Extra Time;" and "The Air You Need" finds a woman imagining a mother's love for her autistic son. An exploration of the human being, this compilation weaves themes of longing, alienation, delusion, resilience, and love. Sometimes dreamy and hypnotic, sometimes comic and wry, these stories leave their mark.