Taking Scarlet as a Real Colour

Conlon ( Stars in Daytime ) points out the absurdity and political implications of everyday situations in these generally radiant Irish stories. A man who has had an extraordinary marriage refuses to accept his wife's death and begins painting a mural depicting her life. In describing the gentle nature of her now elderly and exasperating father, one of his daughters recalls, ``he told us that Jesus got away.'' Many of the characters are strong women with firmly held beliefs. A man recounts the adventures of his sister with both embarrassment and glee: when he announced his marriage she told him that patriarchal institution was ``obscene''; later she took compromising photographs of priests and blackmailed the Church with them. A group of friends paint ``NO PRIEST STATE HERE'' in public places in anticipation of a visit from the pope and find the experience exhilarating, although it later has repercussions. A woman keeps a sporadic diary of her brief affair but cannot figure out why she is cheating on her husband. Occasionally the voices ramble too far out of control, but this is a first-rate collection full of original insights and characters. (Dec.)