The View from the Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeier

Several of the short stories included in Kevin Brockmeier's collection The View from the Seventh Layer are labeled by the author as 'fables'. It's a peculiar choice of labels—my handy reference book tells me that a fable is a short story designed to teach a moral lesson to children. But Brockmeier is a peculiar writer, and the odd titles of his tales ar…