<p>Confined to his home in Cambridge and facing his final days at an earlier-than-expected age, Clive James began to experience a new way of living: ''His world had shrunk to <i>this</i> room and <i>that</i> terrace. He never went anywhere, saw almost nobody, could eat almost nothing - and yet, every aspect of his life was filled with meaning. The fact that there was an apple on that tree. Everything was extraordinary.'' <br><br>Cole Moreton''s meeting with Clive James is one of eighteen beautifully written true short stories that, taken together, explore what it means to be fully human in these fractured times.<br><br>The encounters we have with others all have a deep meaning, because the way that we live, love and reach out for connection with each other, with ourselves, with the natural world and with the divine, give us a greater understanding that we cannot be humans on our own. As Desmond Tutu says: ''I couldn''t be a human being on my lonesome, I wouldn''t know what to do.'' <br