The details in "Post and Bean" matter. The specific itty-bitty matters of surprising consequence. Not necessarily what one sees at first glance, but what one uncovers, what the broader whole can be understood to mean. Take the group of people in the church office. At first, a stranger to the
Sometimes, when I begin reading an Alice Munro story, I am overwhelmed by a sense of "there it is". It's a feeling of immediate and undeniable recognition of familiar elements. Like the beginning of "Nettles", which begins with firmly rooting the reader in a time and place. It is summer.
While Nina was playing tennis, Lewis was killing himself. Readers learn this at the outset. Nina played; Lewis died. Back and forth across the net, Nina volleyed and returned serves; Lewis plunged downward into first unconsciousness, then... Into, what? As a science teacher, who insisted that evolution be taught in classrooms
Runaway readers cannot run away from the book after turning the final page. Instead, they have to burrow in. Much like "Vandals" in 1994's Open Secrets and the title story in 2012's Dear Life, "Powers" is one of those closing stories that sends readers rushing back to the beginning.
McClelland & Stewart, 2004 This story has long been my favourite in this collection, although I could not recall which of them it was, when I first approached my reread of Runaway. When Stratford appeared in the first story, I thought maybe my favourite was coming. But, no,
