“A Gypsy’s Book of Revelation”

By Cécile Barlier (Red Hen Press; 216 pages; $15.95)

Though a newcomer to the genre, Bay Area author Cécile Barlier shows a mastery of the form with this visceral and eclectic debut. In stories that span from the harrowing and macabre to the outlandish and amusing, she turns everyday situations into playgrounds for literary experimentation.

Take the title story and “Pieces.” While the latter, rightly set in Japan, features a character who transforms from a woman into a fish, the former shows a nononsense mother analyzing her life as she emcees her own funeral.

Other notables include the lustfilled “Legionnaire” about a couple (nearly literally) devouring each other during a onenight stand, and “Swallowing Carolyn,” about a haunted memorial brunch following a friend’s drowning.

Most of these 15 stories are stream of consciousness or unpolished — but that’s part of their appeal. Barlier’s matteroffact narrative style, coupled with her wry sense of humor and zeal for the bizarre, mean you just never know what plot twist or hidden world you’re going to stumble upon next.