OMNIPHOBIA

This collection of short fiction by Dillard (English/Hollins College; The First Man on the Sun, 1983, etc.) runs the gamut from touching to tediously overwritten. The choppy title story contains four separate narratives: A tormented, suicidal punk rock singer's tale is portentous and overwrought, while that of a writer afflicted with a 10-year writing block is predictable; the most affecting segment concerns a prisoner who escapes from his cell only to find himself trapped in darkness, unsure whether his next step will lead to oblivion or freedom. The characters in Dillard's takeoffs of southern literature are more likable and less overwhelmed by symbolism. Abel Boyd, protagonist of ``The Road,'' returns to his childhood home after an absence of 38 years. The author movingly depicts Abel's confusion as he encounters a redneck bartender; his old childhood playmate, now a respected citizen of the black community; and an astute young prostitute with the proverbial heart of gold. ``That's What I Like (About the South)'' coyly reverses all the men's and women's names (a girl is named Roy, her boyfriend Shirley, etc.) to play upon the ``defining characteristics of southern fiction.'' Sentimental Roy has a typically eccentric southern family and sense of community, but Dillard writes about her with a comic, gentle touch as she loses Shirley to another girl—strangely enough, also named Shirley. ``The Bog'' purports to be the journal of an academic trying to achieve ``intercellular communication'' by using his powerfully directed thoughts to will insects (and sometimes humans) to fulfill his desires. The satire of academia is uneven here, especially in the portrayal of feminist author Sara Band, a hot number in a green pantsuit who sleeps with all her male colleagues. Still, there are some lovely lyrical passages about the professor's successful and unsuccessful interactions with nature. Best and most appealing when the author steers clear of overwriting his characters and laying on the parody too thick.