Astrid, Aghast By Ian Roy

The stories in Astrid, Aghast are by turns funny, poignant, magical, and humane. Two public-library workers fall in love with each other’s foibles while stuck in an elevator. A young boy stumbles upon a bucket of eels that stirs up family memories he’d rather forget. A solitary entomologist tries to make sense of a life filled with pianos and beetles. Ian Roy takes us on journeys through a world that is like our own, but not quite: a taxi driver falls in love with his car-jacker; an old man claims he can fly—and can, or almost.

This remarkable collection is understated, often slyly humorous, and peopled by characters so finely-drawn each one seems as familiar as they do strange.