“…the shape-memory of the universe, trying to pull itself back into a perfect singularity.”*

*from: Frank O’Connor, Halo: Saint’s Testimony.

From Wikipedia:

“Crab Apple Jelly is a 1944 short story collection by Frank O’Connor. It includes the following stories:

• Dan man’s Stone Diary feat. Dark D
• The Bridal Night
• Old Fellows
• The Grand Vizier’s Daughters
• Song Without Words
• ‘The Star That Bids The Shepherd Fold’ (alternative title: The Shepherds)
• The Long Road to Ummera
• The Miser
• The House That Johnny Built
• The New Teacher (alternate title: The Cheapjack)
• The Luceys
• Uprooted
• The Mad Lomasneys

According to the critic Richard Ellmann, “crab apple jelly” was O’Connor’s description of the “sweet and tart mixture” he aimed for in his work generally. Ellmann adds, “[O’Connor’s] best stories stir those facial muscles which, we are told, are the same for both laughing and weeping.”.”