From Acrophobia to Oratorio to Public Sex, the themes found in Hal Howland's collection of short stories are eclectic. What do you do when your CIA dad disappears is the question posed in "Dad Fakes His Death and Goes West." The island paradise of Key West gets a new sexual awakening in "The Southernmost Erection." The frustrations of loving a 19-year-old beauty are explored in "The Younger Woman's Wordplay." And international intrigues come to the forefront in the novella "After Jerusalem." Also, folded in among several other stories is the dazzling title piece about one Ike Ireton of Radius Records, "The Jazz Buyer."