A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray, Viking, 拢14.99, ISBN 0670913472 Reviewed by Maggie McDonald
FROM the search for an iridescent butterfly the colour of a summer sky and as big as a big man鈥檚 hand, swarms of red and black Monarchs filling the trees in a Californian grove, to a scant handful of butterflies clinging to a hanged man, you will understand that John Murray鈥檚 short stories are visual and visceral. He is a wonderful fiction writer, who trained as a doctor, then became an epidemiologist. Murray now works to improve the health of children in developing countries. So his grip on science is real, rather than bolted on for effect. And his writing is fabulous.