Sitor Situmorang, one of the most celebrated Indonesian literary voices of the twentieth century, claimed that all his work dealt with a single theme-"love and wanderlust," which are "two aspects of one and the same experience." His remarkable short stories are celebrations of modern life, dealing with subjects such as seeking, belonging, identity, masculinity, and sensual interaction with the world at large. The characters are both introspective and physical, the settings sparse but evocative, the circumstances ordinary yet unexpected.

The publication of this volume of fourteen stories is the culmination of a request Sitor once made of Harry Aveling to render his stories in English. The translation of his complete short stories now shares the exceptional creative prose of Sitor Situmorang with audiences around the world.