Jill McCorkle's new collection of twelve short stories is peopled with characters brilliantly like us-flawed, clueless, endearing. These stories are also animaled with all manner of mammal, bird, fish, reptile-also flawed and endearing. She asks, what don't humans share with the so-called lesser species? Looking for the answer, she takes us back to her fictional home town of Fulton, North Carolina, to meet a broad range of characters facing up to the double-edged sword life offers hominids. The insight with which McCorkle tells their stories crackles with wit, but also with a deeper-and more forgiving-wisdom than ever before. In Billy Goats, Fulton's herd of seventh graders cruises the summer nights, peeking into parked cars, maddening the town madman. In Monkeys, a widow holds her husband's beloved spider monkey close along with his deepest secrets. In Dogs, a single mother who works for a veterinarian compares him-unfavorably-with his patients. In Snakes, a seasoned wife sees what might have been a snake in the grass and decides to step over it. And, in the exquisite final story, Fish, a grieving daughter remembers her father's empathy for the ugliest of all fishes. The success behind Jill McCorkle's short stories-and her novels-is, as one reviewer noted, her skill as an archaeologist of the absurd, an expert at excavating and examining the comedy of daily life (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Yes, and also the tragedy. A classy publisher of literary fiction and one of the ablest contemporary practitioners of the short story art combine to produce a superlative compendium of tales set in North Carolina. What makes Southern writers so good? McCorkle's economically worded stories are arguably the equal of the best of Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, or Flannery O'Connor. These deceptively simple animal-titled tales resonate and entertain, with people in one story migrating without warning to another story, further illuminating character and motivation. Themes explore the infidelity of spouses, the fears of childhood, and the terror of senile old age. It is hard to pick favorites from among these dozen all-too-human tales, but the unnamed animal groomer of "Dogs" will make you laugh as she narrates why she's come to prefer dogs to men. You'll also be startled along with the wife in "Snakes" when she discovers a disagreeable truth right next door, and you'll feel for the gentle souls (both animal and human) in "Monkeys" and "Turtles." McCorkle is the award-winning, best-selling author of both novels (Carolina Moon) and short stories (Final Vinyl Days). Recommended for all libraries. Jo Manning, Barry Univ. Lib., Miami Shores, FL Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. This is McCorkle's third collection of short stories, following, most recently, Final Vinyl Days (1998). All 12 stories are set in the fictional town of Fulton, North Carolina, and are named after animals, which either loom large as central metaphors or serve as background. Much darker than is typical of McCorkle's often whimsical fiction, these stories are shot through with a sense of deep sadness that is only partially concealed by the author's dry and acerbic humor. In "Snakes," an "evolved" married couple tries to shut out a poisonous, nosey neighbor by reciting a hilarious litany of television trivia. In "Snipe," two siblings, the victims of a cruel practical joke pulled by older relatives, are able to comfort each other with small talk. The best of her work is, at once, unsettling and moving. McCorkle, author, too, of five novels, writes near-perfect dialogue and is able to create powerful emotional moods within the space of a few paragraphs. Her stories will appeal to fans of Jane Hamilton and Lee Smith. Joanne Wilkinson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "...tactilely as pleasurable as it is readable. The literary equivalent of the perfect box of crayons." -- The Washington Post "A superlative compendium of tales... it is hard to pick favorites. Recommended for all libraries." -- LIBRARY JOURNAL "Arguably the equal of the best of Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, or Flannery O'Connor." -- Library Journal "In her third story volume, McCorkle again demonstrates that there's room to grow in New Southern fiction." -- KIRKUS REVIEWS "Jill McCorkle's barkingly funny short-story collection trots out a menagerie of tragic and absurd tales with tails." -- Vanity Fair "McCorkle...writes near perfect dialogue and is able to create powerful emotional moods." -- Booklist Creatures of Habit is so rich, so complete an experience. I marvel at the toughness and the brilliant sensibility. I don't know how Jill McCorkle does it, but she has the power to alter y emotional state with a single sentence, a line, a seemingly off-hand comment.She can make me shiver with sorrow, and then turn around and get me smiling; she can bring me up with startlement; she can make me anxious; she can horrify me, or scare me. With