An Everyday Extraordinary

Sometimes short stories can seem like a box of Raisin Bran: the raisins are the oversweetened little quirks that moderately competent writers insert to disguise the dull cardboard flavour of their work: characters defined by a wacky tic, or a fantastical situation that is not explored and exploited, not integral to the tale, but merely used to put a checkmark beside “be inventive.” Too many authors write as though plot plus personality is greater than story plus character.

Steven Heighton’s short fiction is writing on a different level entirely. With his latest collection, The Dead Are More Visible, Heighton has come close to producing what might be considered the perfect book of short stories. What binds the pieces in this book together is an exploration of how people behave in unusual situations. Not the kind of unusual situation that a less competent writer would think demonstrated originality and wit, but a more everyday extraordinary. Even if most...