After spending the evening trying to organize my thoughts, and still struggling, this is not going to be as clear and concise as I had hoped. Man, the synopsis is perfectly written, though. James Dorr does a remarkable job tying together 16 seemingly disparate tales of life, love, death, and the human condition.

The first few stories were quite shocking, with some rather graphic and questionable content. (The Beautiful Corpse, The Lover of Dead Flesh were titles that might have given me some hints.) but the behavior treated as common, and the reflection of why it was acceptable (which, of course, I did!) based on our current society and how it is developing led to some rather disturbing self-reflection. After addressing more commonly shocking issues (sexuality, female positioning in society, how we care for our dead, and other interesting issues.) the stories take a unique twist, going from primarily told by the people charged with caring for the dead (Those who run the Tombs, telling us how to view Ghouls, New City Dwellers, and The River People.) then we shift our perspectives and get stories and views from these other peoples themselves who view their position in society as natural and appropriate, and the other's as different/ bad. Just when you think you know what to expect, the next tale twists what you think you know and gives you a new angle and perspective to consider.
And when you take that and compare it to our real-world counterparts, it creates a rabbit hole that is easy to leave you caught in a thought-provoking stupor. For anyone participating in #ReadProud reading challenge (or one similar, focusing on stories about LGBTQ.) There are several stories in this Novel-in-Stories, like Flute and Harp, The Ice Maiden, and The Winged Man that all highlight how Mr. Dorr perceives the LGBTQ issue in a distant future, which in a way, I found quite comforting despite the uncomfortable future this tale predicts.

Yes, despite the uncomfortable and dark future predicted in this future world, key elements, like love, money, and humanity's ability to carve out some sort of life in even the direst circumstances carries on with a heart-broken tinge of hope and legends.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes to think deep thoughts about what they read. For anyone who has an interest in politics, social issues, climate issues, anthropological studies, biomedical, and for the curious who like to imagine how the world could turn out. For me, this was more realistic an outcome than the Divergent series, Hunger Games, or Maze Runner, though definitely not for the same audience. This is a grown up's view for grown-ups of what a dystopian world could potentially provide. ( )