Three Tales by the Bay

This book is interesting, disturbing, and uplifting (at least near the end.)
Some parts of it are like watching a train wreck, sometimes in slow motion, but occasionally the sun comes out, and all its hopeful rays are doubly vibrant in contrast.
The author addresses things often ignored in other books, and that alone makes it worth reading, but I liked it more for the hope it shows amid gloom.
It's written cinematically which takes some getting used to, as the author only states how the character acts, not feels, and this is both good and bad. It's good because his characters are easier to interpret, and bad because this also makes them hard to understand. If you're looking for cheap emoting on simplistic characters (which sometimes I am) this won't give it to you. But I'm glad I read it.