HER KIND OF WANT

The unfulfilled sexual and domestic longings of a series of Southern women are the narrow but surprisingly affecting focus of this debut story collection. Stylistically, Davis's prose is rich with intriguing musings and conceits, and the characters' voices betray a range of humble origins as they relate their heartaches and misadventures. "What Kind of Man" is a funny, poignant account of a woman's attempts to come to grips with her husband's flightiness as he refuses to battle back from unemployment. "Some Things Collide" is a more compassionate narrative about a woman who takes an unsuccessful road trip with a friend to try to distract herself from a breast cancer diagnosis. Davis displays a vivid imagination in "Tammy, Imagined," a bizarre yet effective story about a woman who tries to meet men by presenting different versions of herself in a series of letters she writes to soldiers, a tactic that proves disastrous when she finally meets one of her correspondents. Davis has a flair for creating confused, frustrated female protagonists who have a tendency to wear both their hearts and their libidos on their sleeves, but the nine stories begin to acquire a sameness of tone as the collection unfolds. Winner of the 2001 Iowa Short Fiction Award, this volume demonstrates Davis's keen understanding of the sensibilities and longings of women whom life has cheated. Building on that empathy, she might offer a wider range of protagonists and situations next time. (Oct.)