Tell Everyone I Said Hi

The stories in Simpson%E2%80%99s debut collection oscillate between short-shorts%E2%80%94such as %E2%80%9CLet x,%E2%80%9D which casts the elementary school war of the sexes as an insoluble math problem, or %E2%80%9CMiracle,%E2%80%9D wherein the narrator relates his brother%E2%80%99s reaction to being run over by a car%E2%80%94and longer tales that examine the stunted lives of an alcoholic in permanent recovery, pining for his pregnant ex; a successful, happily married lawyer looking back on a former flame and pondering the son he never had with her; and a young boy who has an unexpectedly intimate encounter with an older female neighbor whose celebrated beauty was ruined in a tragic car wreck years ago. Simpson is a capable writer, but his lyrical efforts are too like the early work of Raymond Carver, and his shorter pieces end too soon. However, a pair of longer linked stories, %E2%80%9CPeloma%E2%80%9D and %E2%80%9CConsent,%E2%80%9D which feature a widower father trapped in a demanding factory job, provide the emotional depth and sense of authenticity that the other stories lack. (Oct.)