Fast Forward and Other Stories is an extraordinary collection of deftly crafted prose and subtle dialogue by Canadian short story writer and literary anthologist, Delia De Santis. In this suite of short fiction, we have the over-arching theme of emotional hunger and longing.

Love's redemption and the attendant hunger evoked by a love unrequited is the theme of the story "Talk about Roses", a brief tale of Vincent, a working-class anti-hero, betrayed by his fiancé, who is carrying another man's child, but for whom he still has a great deal of affection. Baffled by love's betrayal and overwhelmed by the brutal fact that just being nice and good will get you nowhere, least all near his heart's desire, he comes to this sad, resigned epiphany: "What can one do in life.

Sometimes it's like that. Just out of your grasp.

. .

try to harness life. .

. try to steer it down a rosy path.

Try to shape it into a form. It just goddamn goes all over the place.

. .

hurting you as it drags slowly on top of you, like a bulldozer. "It is in the mastery with which De Santis evokes, suggests, and hints that the characters in her work acquire life and dimension.

. .