"Salepa, deserted by hsi wife and children, out of money and luck, is determined to use his one talent on the unfortunate inhabitants of the nearby town; Fiasola, a respected head teacher, who, in his forty-ninth year, feels the Miracle Man is being born and God has deserted him; Gabriel, now middle-aged, going through his dead father's papers, with his son, conjuring up the tragic history of his family ; and the self-styled Saviour who is obsessed with ridding his village of the Bad Smell - these are some of the ... characters who people Albert Wendt's new collection of short stories about his native Samoa. ..."--Jacket.