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I’ve simply never read a book like this! Before writing about the stories, I want to mention the writing style. The author says SO much with so few words, and usually not the words one might predict or expect. The effect is like sprinkling golden nuggets of surprise across an open expanse, giving the reader a continuing sense of discovery along with an abundance of space for exercising the imagination. So engaging!The characters and plots sometimes freaked me out. I read Reptile House on vacation a few months ago, and I’m still thinking about some of the stories now. I could write on and on about the emotions that each story caused me to feel. I was caught by surprise from the start.I read "Cold Snap" as I winged my way from New York to South Korea, passing over Alaska. How fitting, I thought… As the cold in the story deepened and the isolation intensified, I felt as though I was in a Hitchcock movie. I hope it becomes a movie… Brilliant!I found it easy to imagine the unpleasant events in one's life that could lead to events like those in "Take the Car Take the Girl." But "Carlsbad Caverns" was way beyond my experience (thank God!) – I haven’t read a story quite like that since Truman Capote was publishing - what a nightmare!The men in "No Name Creek" were very different from the people in my world. They had wonderfully rendered personalities that were clearly rough-edged, but also endearing on some level; much like several of the other characters in McLean’s stories. She must have a lot of experience with people like this since she describes them so well.The far edges of mental health are explored in "The True End" and "Blue Nevus." How in the world did the author think up these characters, and get so deep into their heads? Again, it’s a little scary!I think "For Swimmers" was my favorite story in the collection. Perhaps I could relate to it more than some of the other stories, having had experience with some of the feelings described; a sense of belonging to a place, reminiscing wistfully, rapture followed by protracted disappointment in love, suppressed loneliness, a resolve to carry on, the poetic symmetry of life and death... it all made the story into a rich tapestry and a wonderful reading experience; much like the whole book.As I flip back through the pages I feel like I could write for ages about the emotions that each story provoked and the ways the characters affected me. All and all the book made a huge impression on me and I can hardly wait to read more of this author’s work. I hope more will appear soon!