The Laughter of Hyenas at Bay is a collection of two clashing worlds. The myth and wonder of the old world peaks through the cracked concrete of the new. Bradbury's October Country fights against the entropy of Stuart Dybek's raw Chicago. A boy sews himself into the belly of a whale to cope with his mother's death. A woman faces the trauma of a miscarraige, following her unborn baby through the depths of pill induced dreams. Aging punk rockers resign to their fates. A Soviet propaganda train to Siberia holds a dark secret within its cars. In humor, grief, and violence, these stories portray the desperation of lives when backed against a wall.