An American writer who was raised overseas and was once a Buddhist nun in Burma, Kate Wheeler isn't short on subject matter. In these 10 lyrical, sharply etched tales, mainly about quirky Yankees seeking peace, love, or enlightenment abroad, she proves she isn't short on style, either. While some pieces are humorous — ''La Victoire'' finds a mythomaniacal typist meeting her match in a Buenos Aires diner — most, like ''Under the Roof,'' about an American monk's dangerous attraction to his Malaysian patroness, come more darkly lit. But Wheeler illuminates all the stories in Not Where I Started From, her debut collection, with keen insights, sly ironies, and the occasional perverse twist of fate. Even the most somber gleam like polished jade. A
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