This is a collection of ten stories by one of Canada’s foremost fiction writers, designed to be a bedside book for people living with death.

In his challenging, affirmative introduction Sean Virgo suggests: &quotWe prepare best for death, surely by loving life.&quot These stories express the full range of that dialect, from heartbreak to raunchy comedy, with more than a few speculations about what lies across the border of &quotthe undiscovered country&quot. Each story is prefaced with an intimate personal account of how it came to be written, and what it now means to the author.

Seán Virgo was born in Malta, and grew up in South Africa, Malaya, Ireland and the U.K. He immigrated to Canada in 1966 and became a citizen in 1972. He has published a number of works of both poetry and fiction including: Pieces for the Old Earth Man(1974); Island (1975); Selected Poems (1990); White Lies & Other Fictions (1981); Through the Eyes of a Cat (1983); Selakhi (1987); Wormwood (1989); and Waking in Eden (1991). His work has won various awards, including the CBC Competition (first prize for fiction, 1979); The BBC 3 Short Story Competition (first prize, 1980); and National Magazine Awards (first prize for both Poetry [1979] and Fiction [1990 ]).

Seán Virgo's profile page