Tales from the Eternal Cafe is Janet Hamill’s debut short story collection, and offers a thrilling, unwinding trail of tales that excite and mystify; drift then deliver a powerful punch that readers will devour. Like Karen Russell, George Saunders, Jose Luis Borges and Isabel Allende, Janet Hamill’s writing lures readers willingly into a labyrinth of surprise and suspense, with humour lurking just on the other side of pathos; a tear just moments away from bright, well-deserved laughter. The book includes an introduction by the author’s lifelong friend, singer-songwriter-poet-author Patti Smith, whose book Just Kids, received the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010.