Alice Munro, who received the National Book Critics Circle Award for her latest collection of stories, The Love of a Good Woman, is widely a...
read full description
reviews
Aug 05, 2011
Jamie
rated it: 
Of the three collections I've read by Munro, I'd say this is arguably the weakest (the other two being Runaway and Open Secrets), but by any other standard, these are still utterly breathtaking stories. I suppose my two critiques would be that (a) this feels like cohesive as a collection in that each story seems only tangentially to tie back to a grander thematic thread; and (b) that there are two or three somewhat unmemorable stories. "Eskimo" and "Circle of Prayer" come t
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 28, 2010
Alison
rated it:
Very subjective reactions here. This book gave me a new appreciation for Munro. I'm now going to go and reread all the books of hers I've already finished, and get through the ones I haven't read yet. Wonderful stories! I love the glancing incidental bits and how they contribute to the overall structure of each story, or of the collection as a whole. They're so gracefully constructed that I'd have to sit around much longer to ponder the construction in order to explain just what I like abou
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 26, 2011
Julieann
rated it:
Alice Munro is stellar. I read these stories selfishly. I read them as what it means to be a woman passing through from childhood, to motherhood, to the stages beyond. When I talk with my friends about Munro, many have said that her stories are marked by instances of the bizarre, almost invoking Raymond Carver or Flannery O'Connor. But for me those moments of the terrible is not what precipitated from the story,instead what crystalized for me was the passages from one part of lives to the nex
More...
Feb 12, 2011
K.D.
rated it:
My first book by Alice Munro (born 1931) and oh my, she kicks ass!
What is it with female Canadian writers? I normally think twice before picking up any book by a female writer. This is not a sexist remark but most of them I tried hard to like them but they fell short of my expectations. Virginia Woolf will always be my favorite along with Dame Iris Murdoch. Then, I also enjoyed Surfacing by Margaret Atwood and Unless by Carol Shields. They are the first two female Canadian writers wh More...
What is it with female Canadian writers? I normally think twice before picking up any book by a female writer. This is not a sexist remark but most of them I tried hard to like them but they fell short of my expectations. Virginia Woolf will always be my favorite along with Dame Iris Murdoch. Then, I also enjoyed Surfacing by Margaret Atwood and Unless by Carol Shields. They are the first two female Canadian writers wh More...
9 comments
like
(8 people liked it)
May 12, 2008
Marcelle
rated it:
excerpt - "As for me, I was happy because of the shedding. I loved taking off. In my own house, I seemed to be often looking for a place to hide - sometimes from the chidren but more often from the jobs to be done and the phone ringing and the sociability of the neighborhood. I wanted to hide so that I could get busy at my real work, which was a sort of wooing of distant parts of myself. I lived in a state of siege always losing just what I wanted to hold on to. But on trips there was diffi
More...
Mar 22, 2010
From an old list: The Progress of Love by Alice Munro
With the ease and mastery that have won her extraordinary acclaim for her writing, these 11 stories explore the most intimate and transforming moments of experience -- moments when the shape of a life is set, moments of realization about the burden, the power, and the nature of love.
With the ease and mastery that have won her extraordinary acclaim for her writing, these 11 stories explore the most intimate and transforming moments of experience -- moments when the shape of a life is set, moments of realization about the burden, the power, and the nature of love.
Jan 30, 2009
Cherie
rated it:
A- Really good collection of Munro short stories; the kind of short stories that when they're over, you need a few minutes to digest b/c it was so intense and you almost can't believe they're over already.
Dec 27, 2007
Vicki
rated it: 
I don't know how she does it. But she does, time after time. Alice Munro is so damn good at making up these beautiful understated worlds. When you look under the surface, nothing about them is ordinary at all. Hundreds of beautiful stories in her arsenal, and she's still going. She's my hero, pretty much.
But enough of that. I love this collection above many of her collections because there's something subtle linking these stories. They're mostly about middle-aged women, whose More...
But enough of that. I love this collection above many of her collections because there's something subtle linking these stories. They're mostly about middle-aged women, whose More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 24, 2009
Jesse
rated it:
I actually first read this years ago, and it provided my first introduction to Munro. When I read it the first time, I remember enjoying it, but I didn't really remember much else. Picking it up a second time, the characters were familiar, but the plots in my mind were lost.
I'm glad to have read these stories at a later point in my life, and gotten to know them again. Reading Munro always makes me think of my mother whose life seems to parallel the experiences and feelings of these More...
I'm glad to have read these stories at a later point in my life, and gotten to know them again. Reading Munro always makes me think of my mother whose life seems to parallel the experiences and feelings of these More...
Jul 30, 2008
Jessica
rated it:
I love Alice Munro. She is really, really high on my list of "people I would like to meet." Similar to the way James Baldwin is totally in tune to how certain types of people work (often the gay man, even more often the hedonists!), she has the female species--in all of her forms--totally pegged. It's interesting to read her characters from a young female perspective because they are so often flawed--whether by their own doing or some other outside force. If you have little experie
More...
Feb 23, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
I received this collection of short stories for my 40th birthday from a close friend. I had never read Alice Munro and didn't know what to expect. The stories are so rich and beautiful in their explorations of romantic love, and the tales are quite interesting. Alice Munro is a fabulous, insightful story teller. I will definitely read more of her.
Dec 16, 2009
Katie
rated it:
I really just enjoy Munro's short stories...this collection was generally set in the 1960's-70's. Munro's characters are typically women, in various stages of life. It struck me that most of the women in these stories were divorcees, middle-aged, often single mothers. It kind of reminded me of watching "One Day at a Time"...not bad.
Mar 23, 2008
Erik
rated it:
For sheer number of incredible stories, no one rivals Munro save for Chekhov. I know that's a big statement, but she's unbelievable. And she's unbelievable over and over and over again. I put this book on my list, but I really could have put any of her collections on my list. She's the best.
Mar 03, 2009
Lara
rated it:
This collection made it apparent to me why Alice Munro is one of the most acclaimed short story writers out there. Every story had a clear arc and reverberating themes. Standouts were the title story, "The Moon in the Orange Street Skating Rink" and "White Dump."
Jul 10, 2011
Kathy
rated it:
Munro is queen. And king.
Before I recognized her genius, I got lost in her story's backstory. Now I've learned to trust she'll reveal to me all I need to know when I need to know it. These stories, like her others, are gems.
Before I recognized her genius, I got lost in her story's backstory. Now I've learned to trust she'll reveal to me all I need to know when I need to know it. These stories, like her others, are gems.
Dec 07, 2008
early stories of Alice Munro. They were fine and I probably would have continued at another point in time, but they couldn't hold my interest relative to other things I wanted to read at the moment
Oct 02, 2007
Lisbeth
rated it:
Reflective, acutely observed, beautifully written. Before this, I'd only read one short piece of hers in an anthology for a survey of lit class. I think this copy is Em's.
Jun 19, 2008
G
rated it:
Munro's stories create an evanescent, absorbing world, and while this isn't my favorite collection by her it's not as though she's ever written a "bad" book.
Dec 16, 2009
Neelanjana
rated it:
When I first read Alice Munro, I thought her characters were small, unhappy people. But I got over that and am a slave to Munro's exquisite crafting. How does she do it?
Apr 22, 2008
I've read the first three stories in this collection--the opening story is a favorite of mine, in fact. Just need to read the rest of the collection.
Sep 12, 2007
Olivia
rated it: 
Eh. They were ok, but I just couldn't get into these stories. Can anyone recommend a different Alice Munro book to read?
Mar 26, 2008
Emily
rated it:
Good early Alice Munro. It's a little less polished than her new stuff, which I actually prefer.
Apr 08, 2008
Annika
rated it:
Again, I love Munro so much. Detailed yet simple prose. Lovely! I highly recommend!
Jun 22, 2011
Alan
rated it:
don't know why I haven't added this, one of her best collections I think.
Feb 12, 2012
Feb 12, 2012
