Ugly Stories for Beautiful People is a collection of short stories by James Burr. And while there were one or two stories which I didn't enjoy, I'm happy to say I thought most of them were pretty good - which is pretty unusual in a collection like this.

These stories offer a wry sideways look at modern life and culture, twisting and turning the quirks of everyday life into something recognisable and yet entirely odd - like a caricature, perhaps. There are common themes: is what we call reality really real? How can our own minds fool us? Can simple statements and thoughts help use see the true reality from within our mindless everyday haze? There is also an obsession with relationships - and specifically what happens when they come to an end. Drug use also features in a number of the stories.

This fiction is rather different from the more standard fare I usually see: have you ever heard of a story being narrated by a pregnancy test before (Foetal Attractions)? And what would happen if psychiatrists analysed their own Rorschach ink blots?

James Burr knows how to capture an atmosphere you can immerse yourself in, whether it's the louche life of the underside of a city, or the disorientating flickering between two realities (which is real? Can you tell?) On the downside, I felt one of two of the stories were over-long, and not really worth the time and effort. Other stories are rather obvious in their statement of opinions, where a little more subtlety might have been more effective. And then there's the descent into outright pornography... But I'm picking at really very small faults - Ugly Stories for Beautiful People is a good collection of entertaining speculative fiction, which I would recommend without reservation.

Ugly Stories for Beautiful People is available from Blackwell, Amazon, and other similar shops.