Without a Hero, by T. Coraghessan Boyle (Granta, £6.99 in UK)

First there were personal organisers: but what if there were a Professional Organiser who would come into your home and organise your possessions? And what if, having charged you a hefty fee for the privilege, this person made off with all your worldly goods and there wasn't a damned thing you could do about it, since you had signed a dinky little contract inviting them to do just that, only not in so many words? What if there were a theme park in California where you could shoot big game without the inconvenience of travelling to Africa? And what if the game were to strike back? T. Coraghessan Boyle builds a story by taking a wacky premise and pushing it way over the edge - and when it works, as it does in most of these fifteen blackly humorous pieces, the result is both entertaining and thought-provoking.