. . . . .

This was like walking through the perfume aisles of a Department store. There was plenty or aromas but the essence couldn't be described.
The book is based in Kharkiv Ukraine but could be in any modern city. There are 9 stories and poems with the characters loosely connected by an apartment house and surrounding businesses. They are unusual short stories as they are windows into a short period of a character's life, sometimes abruptly ending. They tell of frustrated lives, loves and lost loves, wild behaviour, and the violence that surrounds or is carried out be the characters.
While the book was interesting at times, only a few of the stories were memorable.