From the Place in the Valley Deep in the Forest

A group of housewives smoking cigars and playing cards whilst a tornado approaches a west Texas town. An Asian-American medic bicycles through the Vietnam countryside with her husband and son returns to the spot where she once held dying soldiers. Or a young rockabilly aficionado preparing for a date in a Ukranian village close to Chenobyl. The words of Beatles song sung in a Cambodian work camp. Cullin seems to miraculously create moments of true pathos which distill important human experience into a single hair-raising image. I can honestly say they are the best stories I have ever read, they are chillingly good and I have utter conviction that this is a great writer.