A truck breaks down in an outback town. A daughter travels to Japan to give away his father’s flute. A retired Russian coal miner sells his most valued possession. An aspiring author rages at his publisher. Two Finnish tourists take on the Guatemalan jungle. A Sudanese refugee recounts his harrowing journey to Australia. Humorous, eclectic and beautifully crafted, this short story collection encompasses the fantastic and the real, the dystopian and the sublime, the playful and the sombre.