On Larry's Party

Carol Shields, Larry's Party - History, it seemed to Larry, left strange details behind, mostly meaningless: odd and foolish gadgets, tools that had become separated from their purpose, whimsical 'notions, curious turnings, a surprising number of dead ends. - - He remembered later just how she pronounced the word hell - as though it were a real place full of breath, flame, and wonder, and crammed with exotic creatures and strange beguiling flowers, but a place not to be tolerated for one minute when the untested, unmapped world beckoned. - - Whether the cause is genetic or accidental, he knows...