Mavis Gallant’s “Florida”

2020-04-21T11:43:39-04:00

This is the shortest in the cycle of Carette family stories, available to read online, with a short introduction by Lynne Tillman, on the Center for Fiction’s website. It’s one of their “model stories”—for good reason. It’s concise, yet still manages to highlight so many of Gallant’s trademarks: acute

Mavis Gallant’s “Florida”2020-04-21T11:43:39-04:00

Mavis Gallant’s “From Cloud to Cloud” (1985)

2020-04-21T10:00:32-04:00

Having published one hundred and sixteen stories in The New Yorker, Mavis Gallant’s regular readers would have had to wait from April 15 until July 8 in 1985, to learn how life has been for the Carette sisters. The story opens like this: “The family’s experience of Raymond was

Mavis Gallant’s “From Cloud to Cloud” (1985)2020-04-21T10:00:32-04:00

Shadow Giller: Alix Ohlin’s Dual Citizens (2019)

2019-10-22T14:45:47-04:00

Readers of Alix Ohlin’s fiction will not be surprised to find an introspective narrator in her second novel (following Inside, which was also longlisted for the Giller Prize). But what’s remarkable about Dual Citizens is how simultaneously intimate and distanced the narrative is. Readers feel like they are privy

Shadow Giller: Alix Ohlin’s Dual Citizens (2019)2019-10-22T14:45:47-04:00

Marie-Claire Blais, Reading for the #1965Club

2019-04-29T09:17:10-04:00

If you are reading this post because you are part of the #1965Club, and you haven’t heard of Marie-Claire Blais, you are about to wonder how that can be true. (And if you also haven't heard of #1965Club, please visit Karen's and Simon's sites to learn more.)  Blais has published

Marie-Claire Blais, Reading for the #1965Club2019-04-29T09:17:10-04:00

Mavis Gallant’s “Orphans’ Progress” (1965)

2019-03-05T17:42:12-05:00

Language is important in “Orphans’ Progress”, specifically the relationship between English-speakers in Ontario and French-speakers in Quebec (predominantly Montreal, with a reference to Chicoutimi). It matters, immediately and lastingly, because the orphans, Cathie and Mildred, are the children of an English-Canadian man and a French-Canadian woman. Governor General's Award Winner

Mavis Gallant’s “Orphans’ Progress” (1965)2019-03-05T17:42:12-05:00
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