WILLIAM BOYD ONCE said that if people wanted metaphysics or magical realism from his writing they should read his collected shorter fiction. His short stories tend to be bolder and more experimental than his novels. This latest collection does not disappoint on that score: it may not be weighty, but it is slick, sly and consistently entertaining.

Boyd uses the artistic methods of the cinematographer (jump-cuts, parallel action, flash-forwards), but he twists them to his own ends. 'Adult Video' mimics the functions of a VCR, with the story unfolding under different command buttons - play, rewind,