Published by Rupa, this collection of short ("super shorts", according to Mr Bond) stories is a breezy read, partly due to the format itself, but mainly because the twist-in-the-tale genre was handled better by authors of old. From the occult to the criminal, motives that arose from individual character exploration were a fairly common hallmark of English fiction writers. Ambrose Bierce, whose stories have been placed by Ruskin at the beginning of the anthology, had a sharp wit by all accounts. I have had his Devil's Dictionary on iBooks since day one, and still find myself flicking through it while traveling. It certainly rips apart the contemporary political and religious landscape, with his trademark satire and acerbic wordplay. One of Douglas Adams' books, Liff , was constructed/compiled along somewhat similar lines, but to equally, if not more, uproarious effect. Ruskin (he is a charming, gentle, all-smiles man, so I like to refer to him by first name - when...