Living as a moon

de Owen Marshall

Being a celebrity impersonator, says the Aussie Elton John, is like living your life as a moon. 'We give up identity and become just a reflection of another personality, like the moon having no fire of its own and be just a pale reflection of the sun when it's not there.' This new collection of stories from master short fiction writer Owen Marshall is rich in people exploring their identities and how they are affected by others. There's Patrick, whose life is radically alerted by a random encounter with a killer; widowed Margaret, who faces a new kind of existence alone; David, who experiences the 'spontaneous and passing friendship' of strange Ian, whose wife's demands for a better lifestyle lead him to a new career in telephone sex. Set in both Europe and the Antipodes, these twenty-five stories are at once arresting, moving, funny and full of insight into human condition.