A Connoisseur of Grief

There is a coldness about what I have to say, and I must train myself to preserve it. The story wants to be told, but the facts of loss and death at the bottom of it are poor materials for storytelling. Any sprouting of fancy or exuberance of narration would be an insult to the barrenness of grief. I realise, and must remember, that the moment I warm to my subject, I fail to respect it. This condition makes for an inauspicious beginning. A Connoisseur of Grief and Other Stories contains the following stories:
A Connoisseur of Grief
Devil’s Music
The Red Seed
Black Wedding
The Mirror of Don Ferrante
The Garden of Doctor Montorio
Pockets of Emptiness