Just as the majestic sound of 4AD bands in the 1980s prompted responses of the ‘shimmering shards of sepulchral majesty’ sort, so the artistry of Sean O’Reilly seems to provoke a range of abstruse, delphic musings of a laudatory nature. I feel I want to join in. But instead I’ll say that this is a story about a fella who goes to the christening of his ex-girlfriend’s baby.

First published in All Over Ireland: New Irish Short Stories, Faber and Faber, 2015. Collected in Levitation, The Stinging Fly Press, 2017