The Man Who Grew His Beard collects seven short stories. Though eachstands alone, they are intertwined thematically, offering peeks into the mindsof semi-autistic, achingly isolated men, their feverish inner worlds and howthey interact and contrast with their real environment. Though Schrauwen taps'surrealist' or 'absurdist' impulses in his work, youwill not read a more careful and precise collection of stories this year. Thestories included are: "Hair Types," a hilarious piece that on thesurface explores the pseudoscientific classification of personality as afunction of hair but becomes something more akin to a fable aboutself-fulfilling prophecy; "Chromo Congo," a silent story about twomen on safari who meet a corpulent and obnoxious hunter; as well as "TheTask," "The Man Who Grew His Beard," "The Lock,""The Cave," and "The Imaginist."
