What Was Mine

Ann Beattie copyrights her books under the name ''Irony and Pity, Inc.,'' and although she has long trafficked in both, she can, as in these stories, still wring a lovely image or two out of most anything. ''There was a huge wind out there, like an animal loose in the trees,'' she writes at one point. And, at another: ''[A] stronger wind blew up. This was the sort of wind that preceded an alien landing.'' What Was Mine is a quiet, even collection. Nothing sings, but everything hums. B+