Selected from all phases of Kono Taeko's career, these ten stores represent the writer's best work and introduce American readers to a truly original voice and vision. In the title story, the protagonist is unable to construct a satisfying relationship with a man; she loathes girls, and she compulsively buys expensive clothes for little boys so she can watch while they struggle to dress and undress. With the brave, eerie stylistic purity that marks Kono Taeko's voice, her stories present the received notions of freedom, love, and normalcy, and turning them like coins, show us their other sides.