And as a plotter, he doesn’t rely on gasp-inducing reveals. He neither rushes a story to its high notes nor drags the pace so that we can admire his voice. In a band of writers, he’d be the drummer who sticks to a steady moderato. Some writers have the gift of perfect pitch when writing dialogue Taylor’s gift is perfect tempo. I’d urge this story on anyone for the moment where a character cries out, in midwestern grammar: “Why don’t anybody want me back. In contrast, Taylor presents such earnest moments of vulnerability in “Anne of Cleves” that my breath hitched. The violence is neither glamorous nor gratuitous it is senseless without being pointless. And the title story, well, there’s no preparing for that. It exposes the violence men commit by the things they say, don’t say and can’t say. It’s the story where you shout: Don’t go up those stairs! “Mass” will be taught on writing courses as an example of understatement. “As Though That Were Love” is scored with horror music in its mood.

A cluster in the middle share violent climactic scenes. The other stories rely less on recurring characters than they do on theme. Taylor plays the Lionel-Charles-Sophie storyline for all its awkwardness and resentment, but it can feel like a note held too long to suspend commitment, which is the resolution we’re trained to expect. Five of the 11 stories in Filthy Animals track the trio’s liaisons. At this party, Lionel, a black man who has recently come out of hospital, meets Charles and Sophie, two dancers in an open relationship. The collection begins by corralling characters at the kind of party that writers love because it sets up tensions, contrasts personalities, establishes alliances and piques dramatic irony.

Brandon taylor books