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Lawrence Mathews' first short story collection, The Sandblasting Hall of Fame is often funny and sometimes downright hilarious. Mathews depicts losers in various circumstances, a technique which he shares with fellow Burning Rock writer Ramona Dearing (one might ask what it is about living in Newfoundland that inspires such grist for fiction). The only drawback about such protagonists is that you may tire of backing them unless they make an effort to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds or they are interesting, smart or funny enough to be redeeming. They often are, in Mathews' case. He is concise and adept at using the first and third-person point of view to place readers in the world of his heroes. One might be suspicious about this collection since the only quotation on the back cover is from Mathews describing his creations as "pilgrims … always looking for something they usually think they've found."

The stories break down into three categories: losers, losers with possibilities, and dysfunctional relationships. "Flower Heaven" falls into the first category. The introverted main character is on the rebound, works with youths and lives in the basement apartment of a woman named Crystal. He hates Crystal's mother because she says: "This poor flower has died and gone to heaven." From her words, the hero takes a grand leap of logic and analyzes what the mother's world view might be. A tight style and funny dialogue carry this little number along, such as when the protagonistmakes such statements as: "Crystal developed an addiction to the music of Kate Bush" and "The pink-haired supervisor has realized that I hate young people."

Another defeatist piece is "An Important Day in the Life of Victoria G. Euclid." John, the narrator, is the unemployed boyfriend of Euclid, who is unhappy that he stays up late each night watching television to research a manuscript about "eco-facism" (pro-environment consumers) instead of helping to pay the bills. An awkwardness ensues between the couple after Victoria sees an obese man at the pharmacy, pokes his stomach and tells him to do something about it. Despite John's internal witticisms and flights of fancy, the reader hates him and sides instead with Victoria.

Mathews' immersion in characters' psyches can result in interesting trips. When protagonists are headed somewhere, readers can enjoy the ride more easily. For example, in "Proof," the narrator is an arts degree dropout turned proofreader at an Ottawa paper. The reader, though, knows this job occurred in the distant past. The hero has moved on since, despite his attempts to penetrate the enigma of a co-worker named Silas, a fixation that borders on homosexual obsession.

Hanrahan is the loser with the most potential, colour and personality, appearing in three stories: "Hanrahan Saved" (which occurs in the end of the seventies), "The Fjord" (the 1980s are about to begin) and "Hanrahan Agonistes" (the eighties have started). Mathews shuffles the chronological order of the stories to conceal plot details about Hanrahan's future. Suffice to say that Hanrahan is always at an impasse with his girlfriend. Whether he doesn't want to finish his thesis (she wants to finish hers) or doesn't want to work (she does), they have a tense relationship.

In various stages, Hanrahan works at a sleazy motel, teaches remedial English to ungrateful students, and works as a government consultant, all with a lackadaisical panache. He makes mutually beneficial business deals with hookers, such as re-renting the same room in one night for Johns and splitting the cost of the second rental between them. Hanrahan befriends students who claim to be UFO abductees. That particular passage reads: "He thinks, I am peering into the perfectly composed face of a beautiful young woman who happens to be mad. This is what madness is, Hanrahan. Note it well." Hanrahan also takes pot shots at the federal government. Trying to decipher jargon in a government document, he thinks: "no wonder this country is so fucked up." Hanrahan does not participate in events so much as they happen to him. This "loser's" wit, listening ability and good heart often redeem him.

Two stories got into the mix seemingly by accident, "An Absence" and "Baseball." The former involves a man dreaming about his recently deceased father. Despite a male protagonist, the narrative voice sounds eerily female as they come to terms with their father's death. The latter story involves a father and grown son seeing a baseball game at the Big O and how they relate through ball game talk. If readers don't like baseball, they'll probably be lost or bored.

The title track, "The Sandblasting Hall of Fame," is hilarious. The narrator, Gilbert Gleckner, makes a sexual proposition to his co-worker, Angel, when they go out for drinks after work. She is scandalized and their inter-office exchanges become awkward. Gilbert rationalizes everything he does with New Age mumbo jumbo, which he gleans from tapes sold by Reverend Polymer. Somehow trying to separate from the world while also being anal retentive, Gilbert is not nice, likeable or very intelligent. On the other hand, he is funny. When Angela appears to have left Burt, her husband, Gilbert tells him: "Let's open a quart of Four Roses, Bud." Burt replies: "I've never heard of Four Roses, and this is Canada, you don't buy liquor by the quart." Burt constantly imitates Raymond Carver, and Gilbert, hopelessly self-absorbed, are quirky enough to follow anywhere. He attempts to publish a laughably-inept short story about a male hero trying to seduce a woman at the office, using his seniority at the company as leverage. The response of a women's magazine to Gilbert's effort is a lambaste worthy of stand-alone satire.

Mathews' debut collection is generally quite funny. As Dearing does in her collection, Mathews roots for the loser out of a job or relationship or simply drifting through limbo. The reader mainly does too, because of a balance of quirky characterization, funny one-liners and odd situations. Many characters may rise above a rut and succeed, but sometimes just their attempt is funny enough. In the rare event that someone, such as Hanrahan, has a revelation or success, it's worth cheering for him.