Whether the tale is one of mere survival or something greater, a life in Alice Munro's hands can unfurl in a book-length collection (as does Del's life in Lives of Girls and Women and as does Rose's life in Who Do You Think You Are?) or in a handful of
A young narrator, away from home for the first time, is in a unique position to comment on a world that seems new and fresh to her and yet there are many situations which the reader recognizes as familiar and patterns which she, as an older adult, also recognizes.
As is often the case with Alice Munro's story stories, details that a reader might overlook in everyday life take on a new significance. Take, for instance, gravel. Small chips of stone, one thinks. And, yet, gravel is actually "a loose aggregation of small water-worn or pounded stones". Although the pit
Paradoxically, Morgan Holly, owner of the Capital movie theatre in Maverley, who occupies the opening scene of this short story does not leave the town, but all of the other characters in this tale do leave Maverley. Random House, 2012 "And before long he found himself outside, pretending
Beginning with an arrival and ending with a departure, readers might think "Amundsen" a more conventionally told tale. Random House, 2012 (Thinking about the last story, "To Reach Japan", which began with a departure and ended with an arrival, I mean.) And, yet, both this arrival and departure
