The enchanted world of Kate Atkinson's short fiction is home to an entire constellation of unforgettable characters-a dead woman who remains involved in the life of her surviving family, a man vexed by a doppelganger who lives better than he does, and a nanny who (literally) takes flight. In scenes where comedy, tragedy, and myth collide to dazzling effect, as characters come and go (and, to the reader's delight, come back!), Not the End of the World offers an endlessly entertaining display of Atkinson's ferocious intelligence and startlingly fertile imagination.