Uptown calls Sentimental Exorcisms 'delicious'

There are some oddball goings on in Sentimental Exorcisms (Coach House Books), the first book by David Derry. These are stories of weird obsessions, the kind in which one really lousy decision can lead to all sorts of mayhem.

You know you're in the land of the special with the very first story: Just Watch: An Apologia. Our narrator describes himself as "one of the University of Toronto's top English undergrads." But all is not well for the lad. Some lacklustre sex with his now-former girlfriend causes him to reflect on desire, in particular his "one irregular vein of sexuality." He buys a 16-foot ladder and becomes a peeping tom: indulgence leads to elimination, he's convinced. Then it's off to find a female sodomite, all relayed to the reader in the most turgid, sophomoric rationalizations.

Things do not go smoothly, as you'll suspect.

Then there's Rex Weir, a lawyer who is convinced that Austin Clarke based one of his characters on a one-time neighbour of the prosecutor, on no evidence at all, really. So he writes a lengthy letter to the distinguished writer, pointing out the character's lies and complaining of Clarke's mythologizing act.

In the longest story, Distance, a financial market analyst - a rather uptight individual - has an unfortunate encounter in a strip joint, leading to appointments with a psychiatrist and an insanity plea. He simply can't see anything awry with his tidy little life ... in the best of these stories, there's a profound distance between action and analysis. Derry specializes in the most delightfully self-unaware characters. These are delicious portrayals of delusion.