The eight stories in Animal Person illuminate what it means to exist in the perilous space between desire and action, and to have your faith in what you hold true buckle and give way.
The tales in this exquisite collection, set largely in Canada, are expertly paced and finely observed ... Many of MacLeod’s stories turn on a volcanic moment — a family’s brush with a serial killer or a boy’s sexual assault. But the author places much of his trust in the value of detail divorced from plot ... His eye is severe but not unfair, venerating the mingled beauty and horror of entangled existences.
Engrossing ... Populated by family and acquaintances of all stripes, MacLeod’s sly tales find characters reconsidering present assumptions and the unknown expanses of their own futures and those of the worlds they inhabit.
