The two stories are characterized by empty, emotionless, phatic sex; rape; cruelty; and violence.

In the story's final twist, the woman comes into non-consensual contact with her violating member, and makes allusions to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

The doctor, removing the bandages from the site, reveals the truth, and seduces Bull while he is traumatised and huddled beneath the sink.

He possesses all those gifts a satiric writer might want: an eye for the telling detail, an ear for the pretensions of contemporary locution, an ability to write idiosyncratic prose that twinkles with cleverness and wit.

Unfortunately, in this volume, these copious gifts are all too frequently put in the service of a misogynistic and ridiculously sophomoric vision.