So many of the risks in "Deep-Holes" are either averted or declared meaningless. "Sally packed devilled eggs—something she hated to take on a picnic, because they were so messy." Nobody ate the devilled eggs anyway, so it didn't matter how messy they were. "Ham sandwiches, crab salad, lemon tarts—also a
A new Friday fugue, running through this month, considering the ways in which our working lives appear on the pages of novels and short stories. Wasn't I just talking about novels set in bookstores? Yup, in last Friday's post (here). Gabrielle Zevin's book fits perfectly on that shelf. Arsenal
Unsurprisingly, a story named for a main character is going to be preoccupied with names and identity. It's also the first thing readers observe Queenie saying to Chrissy, when she arrives in Toronto and is met at Union Station. Her husband thinks it sounds like an animal's name, so Chrissy
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.
Just as the jury enjoyed reading the stories submitted for tthe 2014 Journey Prize, other readers can also value the "exposure to a new generation of writers who are extending the tradition of Canadian short fiction well into the twenty-first century". McClelland & Stewart, 2014. Edited by Steven
