A collection of many of the author?s best short stories, this volume focuses on the author's hometown of Pontypridd, Wales, with writing that is as scathing and savage as it is funny and compassionate. Examining the inhabitants? personal relationships and social ambitions with a baleful eye, these works are a revealing look at life in postwar, postindustrial south Wales during the 20th century and are accompanied by the autobiographical essay "Days of Absence."