Heaven - Love, strife, timeless beauty - all the ingredients of life and soap operas. But why? Why did Heracles have twelve labors and Indra so many, many incarnations? Why, in tale after tale, was Sinbad the only survivor of his shipwreck? Why, whether in oaters or award winners, must the hero always face off with the villain somewhere near the end? Why did the cowboy always ride off into the west? We expect these elements in literature and scripture, on stage and, by extension, in real life. We produce our lives after a dimly understood template and if the drama isn't there, we seem compelled to create it aggressively as sex or sport or commerce or war. Jansen Estrup's Tales of A Clear, Dark Night explore these questions and the reader will be surprised, even shocked at the answers. Climb aboard for a bumpy, often sideways and satisfying plunge into all that lies beyond the veil of light pollution which obscures the night's grandeur from modern city dwellers.