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“Taxi driving had taught him a lot about human nature. Take the middle-aged businessman, for instance; in the company of a woman he would tell Papa to “keep the change.” Alone, he would demand a receipt. If Papa liked his passenger he might venture a conversation. But he rarely did. His passion was driving. Driving and Elvis.”
Good Night Papa: Short Stories from Japan and Elsewhere is fifteen tales for the time-poor, set in Japan, Spain, China, Fiji, Mexico, Indonesia, Costa Rica and Australia. Triumphing over adversity is a central theme: a fugitive disguised as a pilgrim discovers his fate rests in the hands of a novice Buddhist monk in Japan (The Pilgrim); a recovering alcoholic mail pilot crashes his plane in the Australian desert with a bottle of gin on board (The Finke River Mail); a snobbish widow must ask the help of local cannery workers to carry a grand piano uphill to her home in Fiji (Baby Grand).