The 13 stories in Wayne Curtis’s collection Preferred Lies are mainly set in the Maritimes, and deal with ordinary people in ordinary situations. Loneliness is one of the dominant themes. In “Winter’s Night,” an old man turns to a prostitute for comfort and finds little. In “The Fight,” a young man in love with a married woman struggles to better his life through prize fighting. In “Maggie’s Dream,” a man reflects on the love he threw away. In “The Burn,” a divorced man tricks himself and a welfare mother into believing that casual sex has some emotion behind it.

Preferred Regrets would have been a more appropriate title. Curtis’s characters do lie, at times significantly, but regret colours their lives more deeply. Just as regret is more passive than lying, these protagonists are mainly characterized by inactivity. Some see their discontents with clarity, but do little to change things. This may simply mean that Curtis’s prose is more true-to-life than much current short fiction, but passivity is also apparent in the writing. These stories involve a great deal of telling. In “Fallen Leaves,” for example, a five-page expository build-up to an act of adultery gives a complete history of the main character’s marriage. Many of these details could have been shown more effectively in conversation or flashbacks. In “Outside the Family,” the narrator, upon learning that his childhood hero’s life was not really successful, says, “It was not without deep regret that we have since learned the stories Paul had been sending home were false,” information that could have been conveyed more dramatically.

Some stories are more engaging. In “The Coast,” the end of a marriage is shown in the things a couple say and will not say to each other. “The Dance” is a vivid portrait of a drunken dance in a small community. The vital immediacy of both stories transcends the passive melancholy that colours most of this book, suggesting Curtis possesses a deeper talent that has yet to be revealed.