"There was a little-used part of the station newsstands, almost abandoned, that of paperbacks. Among the stacked books, hidden behind glass, wrapped in plastic and covered with dust I was looking for short story collections. It was a moment of my own, a lonely, quick pleasure because the train was leaving. I would study the cover drawings for a while, pay, and slip the book into my pocket. As soon as I sat down in my seat, I would rip off the plastic that wouldn't let it breathe. I would open a random page, find the beginning of the story and start reading. Other times I would look at the table of contents and pick the title that inspired me most. And as the train took me away I would end up on planets where there is always night, on escalators that never end and among wives who kill their husbands with frozen legs of lamb. That was real enjoyment. And I hope you, dear reader, can experience that same enjoyment as well, reading this collection of short stories I have written over the past two decades. It has a little bit of everything in it. You don't have to read it on the train. Read it wherever you like and start at the beginning or open at random." Niccolò Ammaniti