From the manThe New York Times Book??Reviewcalled "an uncommon??diagnostician of the curiosities of the human heart" and??hailed on NPR (National Public Radio) as "the??stand-up comedian of the unconscious" comes??this extraordinary new collction of metaphor-rich,??wildly imaginative short-short stories. Barry??Yourgrau, who performs his written work in clubs??across the country and on NPR, Comedy Central, MTVs??Spoken Word programs, and in an upcoming one-man??feature film, now explores the imagination's twilight??terrain in which love, lust, and loss reside in??this achingly beautiful and rich surreal tour de??force. An affair with a cannibal woman is filled with??devouring kisses. A flower sprouts from a woman's??flesh wherever a man kisses her, impeding their??lovemaking. An abandoned lover seeks repair of the??cuckoo clock that is his heart. Exploring the??archetypal he-and-she from the first glance to the??last tortured look, this exhilirating new collection??of flash-fiction--short-short stories thematically??connected--merges Freud with Fellini, Kafka with??Woody Allen. At once sad, alarming, and wickedly??brilliant, Barry Yourgrau is, in the uneasy land of??desire and heartbreak, the spokesman for our??secret self.