hose who have been following my blog know that William Boyd is one of my absolute favorite contemporary authors. “Any Human Heart” (Eines Menschen Herz) and “Sweet caress” (Die Fotografin: Die vielen Leben der Amory Clay) sit on my shelf of beloved books. I was very happy indeed to get my hands on his upcoming book of short stories “The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth) pre-publication date and what a treat it was. Boyd is simply a master story teller.

“The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth” is by far the longest short story in the book, a small novella in itself, a story of how chance encounters with different man shape the direction of Bethany Mellmoth’s life repeatedly. I loved the one of the frustrated film director/screen play writer whose life situation is revealed bit by bit through the letters he writes to his girlfriend, brother, banker, producer and his leading actor, really had me laughing at times. The book begins with the story of the philandering husband who has resorted to kissing only which he doesn’t consider cheating . Then there is the story of the couple whose relationship starts with the end and ends with how they met.

One of the countless characters in this series of funny stories William Boyd has compiled makes modern art out of dubbing endless loops of Bob Dylan music over a continuously changing montage of news footage. Similarly, Bethany Mellmoth's dreams seem to consist of "an endlessly variable, unique" series of random characters set in random situations; at times "stimulating, tragic or uplifting, funny or surreal".

I did find it disconcerting how some stories very suddenly morph into the next one, and yet others are set apart with a heading. In my favorites the dastardly bad guys get what they deserve, while in the last and (or only seemingly?) longest story, the ending is hidden.

The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth is a collection of stories by William Boyd, mostly about chance encounters, affairs, and the charting of lives. The book starts with some shorter stories, then the central story follows the titular Bethany Mellmoth—a young aspiring actress who dreams of better and deals with her separated parents—and then the final story is about a small time actor who finds himself in a mysterious thriller-type situation, not unlike the genre of film he tends to be cast in. At least one of the earlier stories connects to Bethany’s and overall it feels like a carefully curated story collection with her longer story at the heart.

The style of many of the stories—including Bethany Mellmoth and earlier shorter ones—is a snippet type one, with the given story feeling like either a moment of something larger or the telling of a story in small, fast pieces. This allows Boyd to depict characters’ lives in small spaces and it is mostly effective, creating readable short stories about interesting characters. Those hoping for more of an interconnected book, perhaps closer to a novel, when reading the summary may be disappointed, but there are connections and plenty of similar themes. Most of the stories are set in and around London and even when they don’t, it does feel like the characters could run into one another at any point.

Boyd's collection of stories is an interesting read about flawed people and decisive moments in their lives and relationships, with some conceits used to create the kernel of a story (for example a man listing all the things he has stolen throughout his life, or another vowing off adultery except for kissing) and others just showing elements of a certain character’s life. These are enjoyable literary short stories of varying length that can be consumed at once or dipped in and out of.