A master of sharp, plot-driven intrigue, in the short-story collection “A Novel in Five Dates,” Alexander Spahov appears as a subtle lyricist and a sensitive expert in human psychology. This book is a bouquet of concise stories brimming with refined humor—from wildly funny to painfully sad—about love between people who are no longer young; about a feeling that is not the first, but still piercing, unsettling, and stirring to the soul.