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5.0 out of 5 stars Stories full of deep humanity and wonderful writing, 3 Jun 2009

By Alexandra Fox (UK)


I've never read any other collection with the breadth and quality of Alex Keegan's Ballistics. Each story here is already a prizewinner, and it's easy to see why.

Ballistics itself is a stunning short story, unravelling the consequences of a shocking event forward and back through two lives, tightly written and juxtaposing self-analysis with a deep and genuine humanity. This same humanity runs through all the stories in this unforgettable collection. There are moments of pathos, particularly in "Postcards from Balloonland" and the final story, "Happy as Larry", which cannot fail to move the reader, without ever veering into sentimentality. My own favourite is probably "Meredith Toop Evans", the story of the inexorable rise of Ernie the Egg from pit-boy to Caerphilly egg magnate, one of three stories in this collection written in the author's authentic Welsh lilt. The stories range from a fact-collecting barmaid to amputee marathon runners, from park football to Welsh rugby, from survivors of a train crash to desperate children building a crossbow. They're the kind of stories that you read, then sit and think about, then have to read again. I'd particularly recommend the weird but strangely resonant story of Miguel Who Cuts Down Trees, and the utterly believable Bridie Collins facing a mother's impossible decision in "The Smell of Almond Polish".

I know the author not only as a writer but as a forthright and exceptional teacher, with a deep and knowledgeable love of the short story.

Tender, funny, dark, clever, above all human - and always exquisitely written and authentically voiced - if you haven't read any of Alex Keegan's work before, you're in for a treat.