Book Review: Big Cats Is a Dazzling Collection of Stories

“Holiday Reinhorn” sounds like Austria’s idea of a Christmas vaca­tion, but she’s a short-story writer whose collection, Big Cats, has won widespread praise. A standout is Charlotte, in which a pre-teen beauty contestant cracks her pubic bone falling off a swing. It’s read with breathy excitement by Lili Taylor, one of several high-profile narrators (Helen Hunt, Patricia Arquette) in this excellent audiobook. Reinhorn’s husband, Rainn Wilson, is pretty A-list: he starred in the American version of The Office. He is also perfect for Get Away from Me, David, whose pedantic, incompetent and deluded hero is shaken by earthquakes and heart attacks. Oddly, the frenetic, dialogue-heavy Last Seen works less well than the monologues. Prepare to be lionised, Holiday.