`PIER' POIGNANT, RIVETING.(BOOKS)

Byline: BETTINA STOLLER

Award-winning short story writer Ann Packer's first novel -- ``The Dive From Clausen's Pier'' (Alfred A. Knopf; 370 pages; $24) -- is a poignant, well-written tale of the tragedies that befall us and the ways in which we deal with them.

Twenty-three-year-old Carrie is engaged to Mike. On Memorial Day of ``the year everything changed,'' Carrie and Mike are picnicking at Clausen's Reservoir. Their relationship has been, describes Carrie, ``in a cold, dark place.'' In ``a playful gesture -- half foolhardy and half brave,'' meant to ``wake me to the old feelings,'' Mike decides to jump in, unaware that the reservoir is 3 feet below …