Highlighting a cross-section of cultures, voices, landscapes, and recent histories of 10 major European cities, this short fiction collection presents new perspectives on the urban experience. Depicting characters that are only loosely connected to the societies that they describe, these tales offer snapshots of each city through isolated glimpses enlivened by surrealist wit--a lonely woman in Amsterdam cooks for a circle of middle-aged bachelors; a poet in Barcelona tries to capture the essence of the city in 11 words; and an unemployed journalist wanders in his deserted office in Reykjavik.

Maria Crossan is the editor of several anthologies, including The Book of Leeds, The Book of Liverpool, The Book of Manchester, and The Book of Newcastle. Karen Emmerich has translated work by Vassilis Vassilikos, Yiorgos Skabardonis, Rhea Galanake, and a variety of Greek poets.