A poisoned apple and a monkey's paw with the power to change fate; a girl whose extraordinarily long hair causes catastrophe; a man with one human arm and one swan's wing; and a house deep in the forest, constructed of gumdrops and gingerbread, vanilla frosting and boiled sugar. The people and the talismans of lands far, far away, the mythic figures of childhoods and the source of so much wonder, are transformed by Michael Cunningham into stories of sublime revelation.