Whether deep in the American Midwest, or more often the contemporary Middle East, it is the traveler who arrives every bit as lost as those he meets upon arrival. This debut collection touches on themes of dissolution, elemental fear, and the liberating power of jazz. The selection is anchored by a tale of Dubai-based expatriates on a mission to break into a gangster’s villa in North Africa, The Tunisian Combination. From there we are introduced to a gung-ho business executive who loses his job along with his sanity in a whirlwind of sexual and political awakening; a lascivious suburban father seeking wisdom in the blues; and an arrogant 1970s jazz-fusion musician.