The first collection of short stories from one of Britain's finest novelists & critics A nameless man who has fallen out of love with life refuses to get out of bed with unexpected consequences A sociologist recalls how he learned his first & formative lesson about the oppressive power of capitalism selling newspapers & magazines up & down the platforms of Waterloo station Some years before the era of the Pill & the Permissive Society four university friends travel to the Mediterranean for their first holiday together where the climate is sultry & sex is on everyone's mind & a strong-willed young woman defies adverse circumstances to pursue the perfect wedding at all costs These are some of the characters that populate David Lodge's shrewd funny & delightfully entertaining short stories collected here for the very first time What prompted their publication in this form is a short story in itself told by the author in his Foreword LONGLISTED FOR THE EDGE HILL SHORT STORY PRIZE 2017