RICHARD LANGE has already been com- pared to Raymond Carver and Denis Johnson--not bad for a debut collection of short stories. Lange's "Dead Boys" is poised to make an impact.

Lange places his stories in the gritty streets of L.A. His relationship with the place is clear, and his descriptions are always witty: "The houses in her neighborhood all looked alike: square, flat-roofed little bungalows the color and texture of after-dinner mints."

The stories are all told in much the same way, from the first-person point of view of a male character who's searching desperately for he-doesn't-know-what. In the hands of a lesser writer, this might get old, but Lange has crafted an engaging voice, and it carries the reader along.

For example, in the title story, when the narrator's wife wants to read him a magazine quiz that predicts how long he'll live, he says, "I don't believe in that stuff." "It's not a horoscope," says his wife. "It's a series of health-related questions. You can't not believe in it." The narrator replies, "Then what I mean is, I don't care."

At the heart of Lange's stories, there's a tenderness and an incredible understanding of the human heart. They'll perhaps appeal especially to Gen-Xers, but all of us can learn from what his characters have to say. That's one of the marks of a truly gifted writer, and Lange will certainly be one to keep an eye on.

Jessica Glass is a freelance writer living in Bowling Green.