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Malls and Velcro, television and art galleries, restaurants and bars, drugs and alcohol are the backdrops and props of modern life in the city, but even the disenchanted and confused benefit from the ever-changing constellations and confrontations with other people and other dreams.

Michelle Berry's second collection of eleven stories confirms and extends the talent of an exciting and wonderfully original literary voice. Compelling for all their sheen of innocence, these stories are seamed with subtle alloys of unexpected darkness. Whether it is a young couple desperately trying to communicate on a duck-hunting trip, a discharged soldier shoring up his guilt over a gang rape, a neurotic suburban housewife trying to remove a corpse from her garden, or a lonely woman with a tanning booth in her basement apartment, Berry's stories sparkle with engagement and pull the reader into ordinary situations that always surprise and subvert our expectations. With wit, Berry probes the absurdities of normalcy and the frailties of middle-class mores to uncover obsession, dysfunction, denial, and alienation--and yet finally offers us a quriky optimism that pleases.

Since the 1930s, the friendly glow of a neon motel "vacancy" sign has signaled a long anticipated break for the road weary motorist. The essential aim of the motel is to provide convenient, comfortable and affordable accommodation for exhausted travelers. Yet, despite their image as places of wholesome reliability, run by proprietors of strong moral fiber -- with a courtesy bible in each room -- motels have earned a reputation as the venue of choice for people seeking a discreet rendezvous. With advertisements declaring the availability of "hourly rates," J. Edgar Hoover, in 1940, labeled motels as "dens of vice and corruption." In Postcard Fictions , Andrew Valko captures this seamier side of motel life in vivid detail. This series of paintings, hyper realistic images of motels glow and beckon eerily from the side of the highway. In Valko's motel rooms, people are engaged in various solitary activities: a scantily clad woman watches television while her companion sleeps; another woman takes nude pictures of herself, scattering polaroids all over the bed; still another woman sits in her lingerie with her back to the viewer as she watches Snow White on the television. A disturbing psychological undercurrent inhabits Valko's motels both inside and out. The alienation and loneliness of Valko's paintings is captured strikingly in the accompanying short story by Michelle Berry. Known for her complex psychological narratives, Berry weaves a disturbing tale of two motel inhabitants that captures the unsettling events of life at the side of the highway.

You could be married for over 10 years and still not know your spouse. You could think you knew everything about your dad but still he surprises you at your mother's death bed. You think you know everyone in your small town but you'll never know the dark secret your drinking buddy hides in his heart. With control, wit, and brilliance, Michelle Berry explores the hidden depths between individuals, families, and communities. Dysfunctional characters create tension in situations where they teeter on the edge of life. Psychological or situational twists pop readers' eyes wide open and force them to pay attention. Berry uses rapid-fire dialogue to build tension and emotion. Despite the underlying dark tones, the stories carry life and hope, human kindness--and strangeness. Each story is a vivid snapshot of a raw moment in the lives of people at a crossroads. A married couple in the title story, "I Still Don't Even Know You," question the foundation of their relationship during a winter getaway. In "The Cat," a life of endless purgatory stretches before a newly-wed husband. The wives in "Five Old Crows," contemplate ways to pass the time ranging from murder to writing. And the title character in "Martin" drives around a boring country town with a shotgun in his car, his dissatisfaction with his empty life mounting as townspeople talk about recent mysterious murders.