The Hockey Sweater, the title story in this 20-story collection, has become an enduring classic: a Quebec boy and Habs fan is shipped a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater by mistake. It encapsulates everything you need to understand French and English Canada, told with humour and love.

The nun who returned to Ireland -- The shoemaker -- Idiot death -- The machine for detecting everything that's American -- The day I became an apostate -- The month of the dead -- Son of a smaller hero -- Pierrette's bumps -- When the taxes split the roof -- The hockey sweater -- Foxes need fresh water -- A great hunter -- What language do bears speak? -- Industry in our village -- Perhaps the trees do travel -- The good people and the bad people -- Do medals float on the ocean? -- Grandfather's fear -- The sorcerer -- A secret lost in the water.