A rogue Melbourne tram driver dreams of becoming a writer in the title novella of this restless, formally inventive collection.

Around him, short stories and microfictions move through childhood tragedy, a doomed flight, early-1980s New York and the private disturbances of contemporary urban life. Patrić shifts between intimate interior detail and wide cinematic distance, allowing the stories to stand alone while recurring images and characters quietly bind them together.

Throughout the collection, Patrić repeatedly approaches catastrophe from an unexpected angle. “Movement & Noise” locates the eerie aftermath of a child’s death within domestic routine; “B O M B S” assembles the final thoughts of aeroplane passengers through scattered, non-linear fragments; and “Back When Jean-Michel Basquiat Was My Best Friend” transforms downtown New York into a lyrical, graffiti-covered dreamscape. Experimental without becoming inaccessible, these stories combine muscular prose, dark comedy and sudden tenderness to reveal just how surreal an ordinary life can become.

Spineless Wonders, 2011. First edition. Paperback. Good condition with cover rubbing, creasing and edge wear.