O Careless Love

Weather they are on the lookout or on the lam, love is what maps their migration.

An eccentric endodontist repairs a patient's freshly broken heart while performing a root canal.

A Haitian woman charms snakes into keeping her company in an urban cave as she safeguards her grandchildren's sleep.

A shy illustrator subsists through a long Vermont winter on occasional glimpses of a man in a blue pickup truck."

Susan Dodd, the acclaimed author of "The Mourners' Bench" explores the multifarious and otherworldly nature of love's in this shimmering collection of short stories.

In settings ranging from a desolate island in winter to a broken-down city bus at rush hour, Dodd shows us love's unlikely -- and often inconvenient -- landings 'in these ten diverse and uncommon stories.