In Atwood s second short story collection she covers a dramatic range, from the desolate to the hilarious. The stories concern themselves with relationships of various sorts. Among them are the bonds between a political activist and his kidnapped cat, a woman and her dead psychiatrist, a potter and a group of poets who live with her, and an artist and the men who are her models. By turns humorous and warm, stark and frightening, "Bluebeard's Egg" explores the world in which we live --and the one we create.