David Beard has been drawn to short fiction throughout his very literary life. With Dora's Curse and Other Stories he pulls together a collection of over a dozen of his favourites. In the cover story, a tribute to James Joyce set in Paris, Dora, a devoted mother, places a curse upon Jack, her profligate husband. In "The Story That Couldn't Be Told" the narrator finds himself drawn to memories and to stories: and a story within a story within the story itself. In a small town in Australia, "The Three Sisters"--Larry, known as Laura, Max known as Maxine and Virgil known as Virgie--use their budding talent to make an outrageous impression on the locals. Meanwhile in Toronto at the "Crossroads" of two major downtown streets, sisters Faith and Honor have fallen for the same handsome man. Dora's Curse and Other Stories is a delightful potpourri of tales, long and short, some humourous, some sad, all touching on the foibles and fantasies of its collection of colourful characters.