“Within these pages is a surreal menagerie of animals, human and non-human, dead and alive, crossing the same bridges toward and away from each other. Ask what their relationship is to the city they traverse. It’s complex, tender, and alive, just like these stories.”

—Sarah Gerard, author of True Love

“From the beginning of this thoughtful and deeply satisfying collection, we know we are in good hands. At turns, poetic and deeply grounded in details, James R. Gapinski both evokes the bridges and parks of Portland and a realm where anything can happen, where dinosaurs fighting for loose change can be broadcast on the dark web, and dense flocks of birds can conjure both Hitchcock and the possibility of love. Although not a word is wasted, we learn about hidden pasts, missed connections and lost futures. I inhaled this in one sitting, but I will return to it again.”

—Anita Goveas, author of Families and Other Natural Disasters