Tangents, the collection of short stories by Anna Burns, projects unsentimental critique of human character and situations, yet it does so with a deep sense of compassion. Though the stories appear to move at Tangents to each other, there is a strict internal cohesion, which binds them. They are arranged in progression through humour, sober reflection, and fantastical elaborations. The 'usual' and the 'unusual' are treated with the same acute perception. A subtly changing voice surprises and forces the reader to reflect on life and its vagaries.
