These stories tantalize by bordering on the darker sides of human sexuality. And by exploring these darker venues, Krause has been able to illuminate humanity in general-our fleeting glimpses of cruelty and revenge, or, say, uncertainty and masochism. You will find stories ranging from a man falling into an increasingly bizarre relationship with a German couple in their country home ("My Brown Shirt"), to a Japanese man who cannot rid himself of the childhood memory of spying on a pair making violent love. All of Krause's characters share obsession. And while their obsessions are seemingly "insignificant" to outsiders, those same obsessions tellingly reflect not so insignificant political and religious obsessions that we have recently and historically seen doing so much global harm.