Seattle resident Matt Briggs' latest collection of short stories, Misplaced Alice, renders the mundane momentous and the extraordinary ordinary.

In the first story, "Rita," a couple entrusts a pet monkey to a friend while they are away for a funeral, returning home only to find that they now have one more funeral to attend. In Ida's Breakfast, we meet a man who comes home every morning to eat the breakfast his wife prepares--even though he lives across town in his rich mistress's loft. In the title story, a woman promises her husband a perfect meal in exchange for helping with spring cleaning, but she burns the roast; meanwhile, their 5-year-old daughter is missing.

These no-frills stories may be surprisingly short (each is only a few pages in length), but they certainly aren't lacking in breadth. Spinning tales that manage to be both brutally dark and poignantly innocent, Briggs reminds us of the quiet significance embedded in everyday events and of the comforting familiarity underlying the disquietingly strange.

Although some anecdotes are underdeveloped and flat, most are all the more provocative for their concise precision and unpretentious tone. Pick up a copy of this tiny gem from one of the Northwest's most interesting small presses. (Laura Mangels)

the contortionist's handbook
by Craig Clevenger
(MacAdam-Cage Publishing, 199 pages, $23)

Craig Clevenger's debut novel displays his ability to construct elegant prose but also shows that he has skills yet to be honed--namely, the ability to breathe life into an engaging plot line.

The contortionist to which the title alludes, John Dolan Vincent, is the main character and narrator. We learn that his polydactylism and natural disposition toward advanced mathematics landed him in special ed at an early age. As an adult, he struggles with violent migraines that lead him to overdose on painkillers and invariably wake up in psychiatric hospitals.

Often labeled an attempted-suicide or substance-abuse case, Vincent learns that a second hospital visit equals long-term institutionalization or arrest. He gets around this little problem by creating a new identity every time he fears one of his headaches will send him back to the hospital.

The novel is truly a handbook, detailing how one might pull new personas out of thin air, but its plot is underdeveloped and confusing. Vincent's character goes through so many contortions that we never get to know him. Then again, he'd probably want it that way. (Carol Castro)

ego trip's big book of racism
by Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson, Chairman Jefferson Mao, Gabriel Alvarez and Brent Rollins
(Regan Books, 292 pages, $22.95)

America was founded on the principles of racism and the practice of genocide. And the beautiful thing is that nothing--as in "no" and "thing"--has changed. America is still a cesspool of narrow-minded hatred, and no matter how many drum circles you attend or how many colored friends you personally have, this will always be a bigot's paradise. You can deny it all you want, in which case you would be a hypocrite or a complete moron.

As a testimony/celebration/indictment of the legacy of hate that continues to thrive in God's favorite nation, the guys at the long-defunct Ego Trip magazine have compiled the amazing, wonderful and just plain shocking Big Book of Racism. A whopping 292 pages of essays, lists and mad-minded ramblings, BBOR is something every American should read (especially the rose-colored-spectacle-wearing liberals who think things aren't really as bad as they are).

Among BBOR's highlights are 190 Not-So-Fun Facts about the patchwork of racism that makes up the history of the United States. Far from complete (Oregon's facts are missing the murders of Mulugeta Seraw and Lloyd Stevenson), the list is an amazing collection of information stretching from the early days of the colonies to the early days of the 21st century.

No one--black, white, red, yellow or polka dot--is spared the wrath of the Ego Trippers, whose cynical sense of humor permeates every page. They even spell it out in the foreword: "Due to our strong personal convictions, we wish to stress that this book in no way endorses racism. We just hate everybody." It shows.
(David Walker)