Just a lovely collection of short stories from famed film director Satyajit Ray. The 20 stories in this volume are varied, but most contain little twists in their storytelling, some with supernatural elements, and all reflecting Ray’s humanity.

Some favorites:
The Pterodactyl’s Egg – a man meets a stranger along a river who claims to have a time machine, and tells him of his travels.

Mr. Brown’s Cottage – a man who loves old books comes across the diary of someone from 1858, one that describes a devoted friend, and after finding the ruins of his old house, encounters a ghostly visitor.

Stranger – the basis for Ray’s final film in 1991, it has an old man turn up and claim to be a long-lost uncle of a family, who then wonder if they should believe him.

Load Shedding – with the electricity in a town cut to conserve power, a man enters his apartment in the dark, only to slowly realize he’s in the wrong one by mistake.

Anukul – Robot technology has advanced to the point where androids look and act just like humans. A man rents one to function as a servant, but when his business fails, realizes he can’t afford to keep him.

The Millionaire – a man who has made a fortune in his business goes back to his hometown and meets an old friend, who tries to remind him of the simple days of his childhood and the better nature of his being.

Shibu and the Monster – a young boy suspects that his maths teacher is in reality a monster.

Fotikchand – a boy emerges from a car accident alone, and with amnesia. He falls in with a juggler, who gradually pieces together what happened to him. ( )