Small Tales of a Town

A prizewinning Australian journalist, Webster draws readers into a community of appealing characters in the 25 stories that comprise this collection. The anonymous, first-person narrator (whose gender isn't made known until the third story) arrives in a little town ``edging up to the desert far from anywhere.'' Hired as a reporter on the Weekly Advertiser , he joins an invigorating company of hard-drinking and hardworking neighbors. His tales are sometimes piercingly sad, sometimes raffish or side-splitting; at least one exemplifies the pain caused by hasty judgments. Seeing a photo, ``Boy on a Chain,'' the reporter investigates a woman suspected of child abuse and learns a chastening lesson: ``There are times when even the camera lies.'' All the stories are wonderful, each in its own way, and equally unforgettable. (Jan.)