A collection of 11 unforgettable stories: probing portraits of outsiders and lost souls who worship at the altar of medical science while secretly praying for redemptive love. A couple whose marriage has been fractured by a car accident; a lonely surgeon who falls in love with a comatose patient; a time-capsule thief who wanders from town to town, seducing librarians, these stories explore the boundaries between the present and the future, between couples and friends, our fragility and our strength.

Awards

Small Accidents was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Award for the best work of fiction at the BC Book Prizes. It was also shortlisted for the 2003 Independent Publisher’s Book Award (IPPY) in the United States.

Stories from the collection appeared in Chatelaine and other magazines, and were nominated for National Magazine Awards for fiction and the CBC Literary Awards.

“Heart of the Land,” was shortlisted for the 2000 Journey Prize for short fiction and featured in the Journey Prize Anthology.

The story “Letters to the Future”, about a time-capsule thief, was option for film in 2012 by Poisson Rouge Pictures (UK).

Reviews

Lawrence Hill, author of ‘The Book of Negroes’, The Globe & Mail – In a manner repeated throughout this brilliant, bold collection, Gray draws the reader into a tale that is both exquisitely painful and eminently readable.

Publisher’s Weekly – Gray wades into the world of the lost and the rudderless in his first short story collection, an up-and-down series of tales featuring innovative conceits, plenty of characters fleeing from life’s problems and large doses of ironic, dark humor.

The New York Times – Gray’s attentive descriptions of wounds and scars exert a draw, and his best stories feature bizarre fetishes.