Litt Crit

Some time back someone recommended the author Toby Litt to me (I think it might have been Anja), so I checked out his new paperback, a collection of short stories entitled Exhibitionism. Part way in, I was beginning to think I'd made a mistake. Some of the stories were interesting stylistically, as exercises in form, but beyond this seemed a little pointless: the message was obscured/dwarfed by the medium.

Which is a shame, as when Litt sticks to more conventional narrative his talents are evident and plentiful, particularly his ability to build suspense and tap into the insecurities and idiosyncracies of masculine sexuality. I found myself getting more involved in the collection the further I read, my favourite stories being Of The Third Kind; My cold War (February 1998) and The New Puritans.

Although I consider Exhibitionism to be too uneven to be an unqualified success, I'm intrigued enough to explore some of his novels. Anyone recommend a good starting point?