Postcards from Surfers

In these generally chilling and depressing short stories, Garner, an Australian, depicts careless, thoughtless and sometimes cruel characters who are full of pain. In ""Little Helen's Sunday Afternoon,'' a mean and spiteful child shows his young cousin pictures of deformed children. In ``Did He Pay?,'' a lazy, unmotivated musician, perhaps Garner's loneliest character, lives off women by virture of his gloomy romantic looks. But ``The Life of Art'' is hopeful: the narrator's friend is discussed amiably, and it becomes clear that the narrator is describing herself. ``A Happy Story'' ends the collection on a cheerful note, making the reader want more of the same. (October)