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Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama.
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- - - - Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
- - - - SECTION: Section 7; Page 23; Column 1; Book Review Desk LENGTH: 350 words HEADLINE: Books in Brief: Fiction & Poetry BYLINE: By Mary Elizabeth Williams BODY: SPEAKING WITH THE ANGEL
Too often, charity projects have a medicinal, more-good-for-you-than-good quality; they're filled with second-rate pieces from first-rate contributors. What a relief then that this anthology of short stories, edited by the novelist Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity"), is worth reading for the sheer joy of its smart, sharp-edged narratives. That proceeds from its sale will benefit TreeHouse, a school in London for severely autistic children (where Hornby's son is a student) makes it all the more winning. The only thing linking the 12 stories here is that each of them is told in the first person, and each is quirky, colorful and alive. We get writers as diverse as Dave Eggers, Helen Fielding, Irvine Welsh and Zadie Smith looking out at the world through the eyes of such protagonists as a mime, a female prison chef who specializes in cooking last meals for prisoners on death row, a prime minister gone AWOL and an aging party girl. What makes the collection work is its easy air; these writers seem to be enjoying themselves. Roddy Doyle provides a wry, sympathetic portrait of a frustrated Irish family man in "The Slave": Melissa Bank takes on urban romance in "The Wonder Spot"; Welsh doles out sex, death and thickly accented profanity in "Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It)." Hornby himself contributes the book's strongest story, "NippleJesus," an illuminating peek into the mind of a burly gallery guard protecting a controversial artwork. Even when the efforts aren't stellar -- Eggers's contribution, told from the point of view of a cheerful pit bull, is just shy of being too clever for its own good, and Smith's "I'm the Only One" is less a fleshed-out story than a sweet vignette -- they still offer a chance to see gifted young writers excercising their distinctive voices. Charity project or not, "Speaking With the Angel" is an exemplary gathering of bright literary lights from both sides of the Atlantic, doing exactly what they do best. Mary Elizabeth Williams http://www.nytimes.com LOAD-DATE: March 4, 2001 - - - -
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