The latest collection of Unni R's short stories in translation shines with the tone of self-critique so characteristic of his earlier writing, gentle and penetrating at the same time. His world still comprises mostly the rural and peri-urban areas of Kottayam, his birthplace. It emerges through his words as a place with layers of life that lie beyond the merely human-the birds, animals, spirits, Jesus, Satan and even inanimate things have their role and place in it.