A man takes his terminally ill daughter whale watching. An aging musician performs at a beauty contest with Rod Stewart, and learns that he missed his one shot at fame. In the title story, two brothers fight over a woman--with disastrous consequences. The novella "Gaga," first translated into English in 1988 and described as a "sci-fi Don Quixote," follows a man who believes his ordinary surroundings in Reykjavik conceal a sinister Martian plot. In these ten stories, award-winning Icelandic author Olafur Gunnarsson depicts the inner lives of his countrymen with stark, brutal clarity. Blending...