Books: 5 Short Story Gems

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Whimsical and yet elegantly stark, Bender's narratives resonate like fables. A man encounters a colony of pocket-size people living alongside humans. A woman harvests children from a crop of potatoes. A boy born with keys on his hands instead of fingers spends his life looking for things (doors, security boxes, women) to unlock. Bender ensnares you with an enticing opening line--"The pumpkinhead couple got married"--and confidently leads you into her phantasmagoric realm from there. Thankfully she stops short of fairy-tale morals; in their place we're given sublime studies on sorrow, grief, kindness and love. --R.M.