A FEW SHORT NOTES ON TROPICAL BUTTERFLIES

"My grandfather was never able to believe that Darwin was right," muses the narrator in one of these intricately crafted stories. "In his mind, the perfection of butterflies, their elaborate patterns and colors, exceeded the requirements of mere survival." These fictions take place in a world that science will always fail to explain or control. Many of the characters are descended from Indian immigrants, and Stephen Spinella moves easily into and out of the accents of uprooted Brahmins. "Last night Maya locked herself in the bathroom again with her copy of the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE . . ." The universe outside the bathroom door is sometimes splendid, sometimes tragic, but always a shock. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]