Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2021 Discover this breathtaking collection of short stories from the bestselling author of North Woods, Daniel Mason. On a fated flight, a balloonist makes a discovery that changes her life forever. A telegraph operator finds an unexpected companion in the middle of the Amazon. A doctor is beset by seizures, in which he is possessed by a second, perhaps better, version of himself. And in Regency London, a bare-knuckle fighter prepares to face his most fearsome opponent, while a young mother seeks a miraculous cure for her ailing son. Funny, irreverent and always moving, these stories range from the depths of the Nile to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, from volcano-wracked islands to an asylum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro . . . 'The grand pleasures of fiction are all here' - The Guardian 'The talent of Daniel Mason - using words in this way is witchcraft, surely' - Elizabeth Macneal, bestselling author of The Doll Factory 'One of the finest prose stylists in American fiction' - The New York Times