Dear Life:
Stories
by Alice Munro
PR9199.3.M8 A6 2013
New Arrivals Island, 2nd floor
PR9199.3.M8 D43 2012
Browsing Books, 2nd floor
Canadian Alice Munro has done it again! Dear Life, her thirteenth book of short stories, is world class literature. Not only that, it contributed to her winning the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy boldly declared her “master of the contemporary short story.” High praise indeed. Ms. Munro had previously won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize (2009), the National Book Circle Critics Award (1998), and many more accolades celebrating her skilled writing, most particularly regarding the short story.
As is common with Munro’s short fiction, these stories focus on rural and small town life and all that that entails, from minutiae to grand schemes. To round out the collection, are four strongly autobiographical “stories.” In the first section of the book is “Dolly,” which details the end of life musings of a woman well past her prime. Having first skipped the intro, I read several pages and then went back. What was revealed the first few pages of the story completely changed my opinion of, quite frankly, everything I’d already read. I don’t recommend doing that. Munro’s well thought out story lines definitely contribute to her mastery of the genre.
I hope you enjoy this great read!
