The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye

Jonathan Lethem again displays his brilliance in this collection of seven short stories, blurring the boundaries of sci-fi, mystery, and thriller. Tales include ''Light and the Sufferer'', in which a crack addict is dogged by an invulnerable alien; ''The Hardened Criminals'', wherein convicts are used as building blocks for new prisons; and ''The Happy Man'', whose hapless protagonist is raised from the dead to support his family, only to suffer periodic out-of-body sojourns in Hell. Each tale features Lethem''s characteristic deadpan wit and unflinchingly macabre vision of life.