Animal.(Book review)

ANIMAL

ALEXANDRA LEGGAT

Anvil Press

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

My favourite Alexandra Leggat story doesn't appear in this collection, though it, too, is about an animal of sorts. In "Impala," from her second collection Meet Me in the Parking Lot, a man ostensibly mourns a car, and the last sentence spins the whole meaning of the story on a dime. In her aptly titled third collection, she displays that same skill with plot, although here the animals are mostly sinew and bone.

The collection opens with "Wide"--a reference to Jess's mouth as he silently screams. In the novel's middle story, the main character defends herself after having a …