Received publishing wisdom (and there's an oxymoron if ever there was one) has it that the short story is a moribund art form. Where oh where, critics and commentators wail, is the next F. Scott Fitzgerald, Saki or Chekhov? Publishers quote that wonderful self-fulfilling prophecy (or Catch 22) that they don't publish short stories because there's no market for them.

But we at beautifulsounds, and our partners at Beautiful Books, don't believe a word of this. It's publishers being lazy again. After all, with your mp3 player along for the ride, short stories are the ideal companion for the daily commute, either played out over your car stereo, through your headphones in the train/bus, on Shanks's pony - anywhere! They're compact, easily downloadable, and, yes short - for which read "convenient to listen to". And who, in this low attention span, time-poor age, wouldn't want that?

There's already a host of short stories on beautifulsounds.co.uk, but we're even more proud of "My Goat Ate Its Own Legs" because they're NEW and FANTASTIC. Written by Alex Burrett, they're the first things he's ever had published. And what a debut. They bring to mind HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, William Burroughs, and even at one point Sir Thomas Malory. Most, as the collection's title suggests, are pretty off the wall, and make you question what kind of upbringing Alex had. But they tend to grab you straight away with their cocktail of humour, surrealism, horror and downright compelling narrative -  and they don't let go. There is indeed, a goat that eats its own legs; but there's also a man who gradually turns into a crab, an itinerant balloon that punishes miserable people, a sniffer dog that becomes a drug addict, God's ex-girlfriend, a campaign to decimalise time, and a couple who enjoy sex so much their bodies fuse together. Not subjects F. Scott Fitzgerald ever tackled . . .

I strongly urge you to give these stories a try - but do keep them out of the reach of children!

Oh, and Alex is so sickeningly talented, he even reads them too!