Complexity and contradiction the means to a brilliant end

The Secret Goldfish, by David Means, Fourth Estate, €21.60.

At the end of A Visit From Jesus, the fifth story in this collection, a doctor shines his penlight into the eyes of a murdered girl. He makes note of the “ice white and blue'‘ mixed with “dead non-movement'‘ and thinks of his 15-year-old daughter who still gives him hugs and seems protected by his love. The doctor, writes David Means, wasn't stupid - ...