Light Lifting. By Alexander MacLeod. Jonathan Cape; 224 pages; £15.99. To be published in America in April by Biblioasis; $19.95. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukA GOOD novel woos its readers, tantalises them with glimpses of flesh and gradually lures them into a world from which they later emerge changed. Short stories, by contrast, rely on instant attraction and immediate gratification. If they are good they leave one hungry for the next encounter. More often, though, they leave the reader slightly jarred, looking for greater fulfilment.Alexander MacLeod does not. His brilliant debut collection, “Light Lifting�, is engrossing, thrilling and ultimately satisfying; each story has the weight of a novel. The young Canadian writer is already winning plaudits in his own country. He can expect acclaim far beyond.These seven stories grip partly because they are...