A Young Man in a Hurry, and Other Short Stories

The title story alone is a perfect little engine of romantic comedy. A young man dashes through a snow-clogged New York evening, leaps into what he thinks is his cab, and discovers he's trapped with a young woman equally desperate to reach her brother. They're both furious, both stranded, both too hurried for pleasantries. But somewhere in that cramped cab, crawling through the chaos of the city, something shifts. The annoyance becomes intrigue. The irritation becomes connection. This is the kind of story that invented the meet-cute. Chambers writes with a light, deft touch that recalls early O. Henry, mixing humor with genuine emotional warmth. The other stories follow similar veins: mistaken identities, chance encounters, the electricity of almost-meetings. They capture a vanished New York, one of horse-drawn cabs and telegram urgency, where a single evening could change everything. Perfect for readers who want a quick, warm escape from another era.