The Reasons I Won't Be Coming (2005)

The most memorable characters in Elliot Perlman's nine invigorating stories in The Reasons I Won't Be Coming are passionate, articulate monologuists who can't stop explaining themselves to people from their pasts. In the melancholy ''Hong Kong Fir Doctrine,'' a law professor pours out his heart to the married woman who broke off their affair and whom he still adores. Another man holds a mental conversation with an ex-girlfriend as he lies in bed after his first night with a new lover in ''Good Morning, Again,'' a deeply odd, sad little love story. Not every tale shows this kind of originality, but all are enlivened by Perlman's intelligence, verbal energy, and mischievous wit.