Originally published in 1996, the first book from the author of Booker-listed Solar Bones, this New York Times Notable Book is a dark, uncanny collection of stunning breadth and audacity. This reissue of the author's celebrated 1997 debut collection is augmented with an afterword by the author, who reflects on his success and his work since. Prepare to enter a world where the infatuation with death, ruin and destruction is total. Set in locations from New York to the west of Ireland, and to the nameless realms of the imagination, it is a world where beautiful but deranged children make lethal bombs, talented sculptors spend careers dismembering themselves in pursuit of their art, and wasters rise up with axes and turn into patricides. McCormack's debut is richly imaginative, bitterly funny, powerful and original.