Car Maintenance, Explosives and Love by Susan Hawthorne; Cathie Dunsford; Susan Sayer

American lesbians should all be looking further west and south, if this Australian anthology is any indication of the overall quality of lesbian writing Down Under. The title is drawn from a dramatic monologue by Donna Jackson in which a lesbian mechanic praises cars for their simplicity (compared with the greasy mess of relationships). One of the strengths of this collection is its comprehensiveness; without sacrificing a certain wildness that must have been one of the editorial requirements, it includes works from several genres, and from writers of all backgrounds and ages. The best story may be Susan Sayer's odd family history, 'Xanthippe,' a cross between the fiction of Angela Carter and Kathryn Davis, with its startling images (her father is described as being 'as long-tongued as Granny, and she could lick her own eye') and rude, playful language. Even the less successful pieces here give the sense of being starting points for stronger work rather than dead ends. It's an unusually impressive collection, full of experiment and promise. --Regina Marler