Changes

|title=Something Like Happy

|author=John Burnside

|publisher=Vintage

|date=April 2014

|summary=A very solid story collection, all the richer for the mood of the title piece being reflected in so many fashions.

}}

How do you pick a name for a short story collection? It seems to me the ''...and other stories'' add-on is like picking a favourite child, a promotion of one portion of the content above the rest. [[:Category:John Burnside|John Burnside]] has got a title story here, but such is the mood of the book that he seems to have nailed the matter, and picked the most apposite name. ''Something Like Happy'' could in a way be the title for practically every piece here.

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.

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