Studies in Insignificance: Stories

These stories tantalize by bordering the darker sides of human sexuality. In exploring these darker venues, Krause has been able to illuminate humanity in general -- through fleeting forays into cruelty and revenge, or, say, uncertainty and masochism. You will find stories ranging from a man falling into an increasingly bizarre relationship with a German couple in their country home ("The Brown Shirt"), to a Japanese man who cannot rid himself of the childhood memory of spying on a pair making violent love ("Taro"), to an orphan intrigued by shoes ("Shoe Polish"). All of Krause's characters share obsession, and while their obsessions may seem "insignificant" to outsiders, they reflect not so insignificant political and religious obsessions that have recently and historically caused so much global harm.