These fifteen short stories from Paul Harman are told with humour and observational insight. Thirteen are tales of modern Australia, highlighting situations from ordinary life from before, during and after Covid lockdowns. The pages are peopled with irksome neighbours, irritating bosses, hapless fathers, cheeky sons and even a would-be superhero. But with ‘The Bellevue Delmonte’ and ‘The belonging mind’, Harman enters the realms of speculative fiction. The beach and other stories is Harman’s second collection of short stories, following on from the 2021 release of It’s Clifford.