Changes

There is a darkness here, and some people have found a little too much that was bleak, disengaging and clipped. I don't think the tone suffers at all, hence my mentioning it from the beginning. Even if some of the works are written to order – there are two visits to the Christmas tale category – you have the pleasure of the pieces all being very varied and utterly distinct, yet definitely squares of the same patchwork quilt. Quality may waver a little – a couple of instances of their being too much back-story and not enough in the current moment – but the collection is definitely one to relish. It's that aura that pervades across the pages from the title down – something like happiness being found in all tales despite the gloom it may have to cut through. I was certainly more than happy as a result.

[[Brief Loves That Live Forever by Andrei Makine]] should appeal – it too has a theme of happiness shining through misery, in this instance that of Soviet Russia, and if anything its stories are even more all of one piece than here. We also have a review of Burnside's [[Waking Up In Toytown by John Burnside|biography]].