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Ramona Dearing's So Beautiful, a debut collection of short stories, is tightly-written, littered with sharp dialogue and good characterization, but suffers from mixed quality. Some stories are superb, while others, by comparison, are like a pasty-white, overweight relative. Dearing writes about upsetting the lives of loners, losers and oddballs. The difference between some losers is that readers might root for the protagonist - or wonder why they would bother.

An excellent story, "Getting a Message Through to the Girl," book-ends the collection. Lyle, a slightly hypochondriac and elderly oddball whom readers can immediately like and sympathize with, possesses a hard-nosed cynicism. So when he meets the younger Letitia, who does think she found a dead body on the beach where she jogs, Lyle is doubtful. While Letitia seems underwritten, she plays an excellent foil to remind Lyle of his daughter-in-law who up and left over a week ago. Nobody knows where she is. On the surface, Lyle and Letitia's friendship is about being witnesses at a potential murder scene. Underneath, though, the good dialogue, simple sentences and odd sentence fragment belie Lyle's worry for his daughter-in-law. He's still trying to find her and his friendship with Letitia allows him to apply the present situation to his past experiences.

Dearing shows instead of telling, such as in "Ketchup Boy." Dana recently broke up with her boyfriend, Gary, and has suffered from insomnia for days. After jogging to tire herself out, she finds her neighbour,a boy named Earle, having a nosebleed. They visit the emergency ward. Dana nearly nods off, but noisy people in the waiting area keep her awake. In one conversation with Gary, one of Dearing's lines sings. Dana is trying to convince Gary to visit Earle's parents, who aren't home. Gary is reluctant. She tries again - and: "There is a scream within her words." As the evening drags on and Earle's nose keeps bleeding, Dana complains: "I'm from Ontario. I can't handle this." With her life disrupted, she is quirky and neurotic, but, like the story, is charming.

Using a loser as a hero is not always successful. In "St. Jerome" Jerome is fixing up blind dates for Ivan, his perpetually single brother. Ivan fumbles through each one with tactless social blunders. Another story, "So Beautiful the Firemen Would Cry," describes two University roommates in Vancouver. One is suicidal and reclusive, the other neurotic and petty. The story reeks of the University days of quarreling, self-absorbed roommates.

Other characters prove frustrating. In "Itty Bitty Road," the witty, sardonic female main character kills time with Mitch in isolated Labrador while her boyfriend is perpetually away. In the ending, Mitch disappointingly becomes a mouthpiece for the story's theme. The scene is reminiscent, as one critic said, of cool kids and nerds talking in a scene from John Hughe's teen comedy and angst-fest film, The Breakfast Club.

Another disdainful oddball story is "Giulione's Zipper." Jill, the protagonist, is under a lot of stress while competing for a contract to build a skateboarding ramp. She is also beginning a sexual exploration phase which involves touching the legs of complete strangers on the bus. Such actions make Jill realize that her relationship with her teddy bear of a boyfriend may no longer work, but readers may have difficulty sympathizing with her. Jill is flighty, sporadic, and sees a therapist who allows her to rationalize any consequences of her own actions as someone else's fault. In terms of creating an unlikeable character, Dearing succeeds, aggravating the reader.

The collection does include humour and horror. In "Seven Reasons Why I Am an Ideal Candidate for Rescue," Osmond Vinnicombe, a reclusive, anal retentive, pitiable meter maid, writes a hilarious letter to his boss. Osmond lists various colourfully-phrased neuroses, such as how he recalled a childhood trauma while putting on a tie in the morning and had to call in sick to work. The protagonist remembers, as a child, destroying a chain letter and a Bible because he was mad at his mother. Osmond feels bad only about the chain letter. In a list, the protagonist describes how his joie de vivre has faded - the joy of handing out parking tickets has lessened and people's excuses do not entertain him anymore.

Dearing caps the collection with "An Apology," a triumph. Father Gerard Lundrigan stands trial for molesting boys at an orphanage. Dearing gives us Gerard's perspective, a trick that compels readers and somehow softens the subject matter. Lundrigan dismisses the accusations of twelve men who testify against him. The number twelve is symbolic of the twelve apostles of Jesus. Gerard admits, to the court, how he kissed one witness on the lips "like a mother would", an undeniable reference to the betrayal of Judas with a kiss. His statements are few in the crisp, interesting courtroom dialogue, which wins over certain book reviewers who generally detest courtroom drama. As the trial continues, Lundrigan checks in on his new puppy, to whom he assigned a house-sitter. Through Gerard's voice, he admits abusing the animal, which alarms the reader. They should be alarmed; all twelve witnesses cannot be wrong. "An Apology" is chilling. Readers may experience a white rage after reading the last line.

Whether outcasts or characters trying to get off the ropes, Dearing writes with a clean, tight style, using realistic dialogue and crisis situations. Whether or not the reader likes the characters, however, is another matter entirely. Admittedly, likeable protagonists are much more engrossing to follow and the unlikeable ones, derisive and detestable. In the end, though, whether detestable or laudable, the characters do come to life off the page, a tip of the hat to any author. Although some stories are weaker than others, the powerhouse pieces such as "Apology" hold the weaklings up.