Mark Paterson’s second book is a punchy, off-kilter, and highly imaginative collection of stories, worthy of mention for its title alone. Briskly paced and with an overriding sense of immediacy, A Finely Tuned Apathy Machine contains tales even the most TV- and Xbox-addled reader can delve into without distraction.        Paterson, born in San Francisco but raised in Montreal, takes us into a world where kids use security cams as TV studios (“The Arcade Security Camera Show”), a chef garnishes every dish with chopped-up hotdogs (“Hotdogs on Everything”), and a family unravels due to the father’s addiction to the 1980s arcade classic Donkey Kong Junior (“Dysfunction Junction”). Food is one of the book’s major themes, as hinted at by the table of contents – from hot dogs to ketchup to creamed corn. Paterson, in the manner of a boy who’d rather build forts out of his mashed potatoes than eat, makes creative use of food.

Paterson is a writer who dives headfirst into his own idiosyncrasies, making them work for their keep. Unfortunately, reliance on this weirdness is a problem, as the heart of the stories comes across as underdeveloped, especially in his shorter pieces.

The only real failure, though, is the trite “Bester McNally’s Fowl Tale.” One part Kafka and two parts creative writing assignment, the story follows the fogeyish and dull-witted title character’s wholly predictable metaphysical metamorphosis into the very thing to which he’s devoted his life, suffering the same painful fate as an industry-farmed chicken destined to become fast food.

Still, the good thing about short story collections is that if you don’t enjoy one story, you need only start another. With that in mind, the majority of stories in Apathy Machine do manage a fine balance of quirky humour, pathos, and absurdity, and for anyone jonesing for a light dose of eccentric people doing bizarre things in everyday settings, this batch of stories’ll do the trick.