The Museum of Dr Moses

Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most highly regarded living writers in America right now, and so any new book from her is cause for attention. The Museum Of Dr Moses is a collection of short stories, subtitled 'Tales of Mystery and Suspense'. All of these tales are very dark, but some supply mere disgust in place of suspense. An example is Bad Habits, about some children who become aware that their father is a serial killer. There's a great deal of suspense until the children find out what's happened to their father, but afterwards the story is simply unpleasant. The clever opening story is called Hi Howya Doin!, about an over-friendly jogger, but it's too quickly rounded off. All of the stories are written with a large degree of thought evident within them yet, perhaps because they were originally written to order for magazines, they sometimes seem forced. The best story of this bunch is the longest, called The Man Who Fought Roland LaStarza. Oates has written extensively on boxing before, and this tale is a fresh take on that oldest of boxing stories, the fighter who tangles with corruption and comes up short. It's a variable collection at best, but the author's talent is always in evidence. [Jack Lynch]