Some stories about ports. "Right in the Eyes" by Valeria Parrella (Naples) and "Aborted City" by Hatice Meryem (Istanbul) were my favorites. Murathan Mungham's "The Terminal" has the focus drifting from one person to the next - "As the paths, the stories, at times the destinies, of countless people oblivious to one another's lives intersect ... It's as though destiny stands in wait at the crossroads, spinning its web" (p.113). Alexei Sayle's piece info-dumps, but has a decent plot and some good shots - "... tartan slippers people generally only wore when they were in a hospice" (p.134); "If they heard Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire had bought their team they'd just say, 'Great, now we can buy that left-sided midfielder we've been missing'" (p.138)
The Foreword says that the book's connected with the "Cities on the Edge" project.
- "The people of these cities are also, historically, driven inward by the solitariness of the sea and the anarchic individualism of seamen's and dockers' lives", p.viii
- "if these cities are to live again, they will not do so primarily as ports", p.viii
- "In cities historically renowned for the accomplishments of a male labour force (of dockers and seafarers), the female protagonists in these stories often adopt private forms of resistance", p.xi
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