Michel Faber's short stories are markedly diverse-the voice of each is so distinct that the book reads like an anthology of different writers. But Faber's radically inventive style fastens all fifteen stories into a compelling collection deserving of the high praise it garnered in the United Kingdom. One surreal story, "Fish," projects a futuristic world populated with fish swimming in the air. As sharks hover in abandoned corners and human zealots of the Church of the Armageddon loose their fanaticism on the innocent, it's a mother's full-time job to protect her young daughter. The title story, "Some Rain Must Fall," tells of a substitute schoolteacher called on in a crisis, and as she encourages her pupils to express their feelings, we learn the source of the class's trouble: a devastating act that resonates with contemporary America.

Contents:

• Some Rain Must Fall
• Fish
• In Case of Vertigo
• Toy Story
• Miss Fatt and Miss Thinne
• Half a Million Pounds and a Miracle
• The Red Cement Truck
• Somewhere Warm and Comfortable
• Nina's Hand
• The Crust of Hell
• The Gossip Cell
• Accountability
• Pidgin American
• The Tunnel of Love
• Sheep