Ten Commandments — Tom Wakefield

. Thou shalt not. .. In this anthology of short stories edited by Tom Wakefield, each of the pronouncements made by Moses (or was it Charlton Heston?) is given a contemporary and enigmatic twist. From the missionary zeal of white Australian Aboriginal policy to Imelda Marcos's particular brand of paganism - shoe worship - to the futility of Romantic Love in the age of AIDS, the writers search for an alternative version of the truth engraved on the stone tablets. The Sabbath in Glasgow is deathly quiet, like a silent B-movie entitled The Day the Earth Stands Still, adultery is gay phone sex and gyms in New York City, and Thou Shalt Not Steal bizarrely has no place in Reverend Fulk s Gospel Crusade in 1950s New Zealand. Sometimes sacrilegious, often faithful to the divine concept of hope, ten modern-day prophets lay down their law for living in a secular universe.
CONTRIBUTORS: NEIL BARTLETT, MICHAEL CARSON, DAVID B. FEINBERG, PATRICK GALE, STEPHEN GRAY, FRANCIS KING, JOSEPH MILLS, NOEL VIRTUE, TOM WAKEFIELD, ADRIAN WESTON