21 TALES is a great introduction to Zeltserman, early short stories presented in themed blocks - quasi-autobiographic bites taken to a fictional extreme that are embarrassingly close to some of this married man's darker fantasies; hard-boiled tales of tough bastards doing hard-ass things; and a section entitled "brutal" that is aptly named. Quick reads, at times funny, often wince-inducing, engaging and compulsive - more than worth the price of admission.