The Selected Short Fiction of Lisa Moore

by Lisa Moore, Jane Urquhart (Introduction)

Lisa Moore's stories are bright, emotionally engaging, tangible. She marks out the precious moments of her characters' lives against deceptively commonplace backdrops ― a St. John's hospital cafeteria lit only by the lights in the snack machines; a half-built house "like a rib cage around a lungful of sky" - and the results linger long in the memory. The Selected Short Fiction of Lisa Moore shows us that love, alongside desire, can sometimes come as a surprise, sometimes an ambush. She splices moments and images together so adroitly, so vividly, you'll swear you've lived them yourself. This new volume, bringing together Lisa Moore’s first two books of stories, Open and Degrees of Nakedness , is the very best way to encounter one of the finest short-story writers in the country. This edition features a brilliant new introduction by Jane Urquhart on the importance of Moore’s work.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canada, Contemporary

296 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2012

About the author

Lisa Moore has written two collections of stories, Degrees of Nakedness and Open, as well as a novel, Alligator.

Open and Alligator were both nominated for the Giller Prize. Alligator won the Commonwealth Prize for the Canadian Caribbean Region and the ReLit Award, and Open won the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Prize for Short Fiction.

Lisa has also written for television, radio, magazines (EnRoute, The Walrus and Chatelaine) and newspapers (The Globe and Mail and The National Post).

Lisa has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She also studied at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where she became a member of The Burning Rock Collective, a group of St. John's writers.

Reviews

[Andy Quan · Rating 4 out of 5]

'She's a skyful of fireworks, a roller coaster, a birthday cake.'

I was proud of my knowledge of CanLit, but being out of the country for so long now, I'm now out of date. I was surprised to find this collection, by Lisa Moore, of her first two books of short fiction plus two new stories, 18 in all, and read of her accolades but not know of her name.

But there's joy in new discovery, and I found her settings, characters and writing so original, that combined with her poetic voice, sent me into a very pleasurable place. There are some thematic similarities in the stories, young women who are artists, who are at parties, who are dealing with infidelity, open relationships, new parenthood and commitment. But the characters are not the same, and it didn't matter, for the most part, I loved stepping into these characters' lives.

The poetry is startling, beautiful and somewhat dense, microscopic inspections of a scene or emotion, for example the extended exploration of a ladybug on the collar of a jacket at the start of 'Grace'. At times, it felt like what have been a skilled poem on its own, but here simply integrated into the service of a story. The stories also don't necessarily tell you what's going to happen next, and might not necessarily feel resolved. A lot happens in them and the reader is left with something that feels like an epiphany but isn't really.

I notice that some other reviewers found her short fiction difficult, because of this lack of resolve, because of the purported sameness of characters, and also the poetic language, and a technique where she simply jumps into the minds of her narrators or protagonists. I found it best at these times to not think logically but to go with the flow.

So, her stories did feel very different to me. They felt somewhat similar to the trend of short short fiction many years ago in that there seems to be a lot of information in a short place and you don't necessarily get somewhere... but the stories are generally substantial. I think you get somewhere... but not necessarily logically or in the usual manner of short fiction. In all, I felt this was great writing, accomplished and modern, and shining a light on Newfoundland settings and homegrown characters. I'm glad I found it!

[LC Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing stories, amazing writing. I will be coming back to this again and again, to see how it's done. Or how it can be done. I have already re-read a number of the stories. So good.

[Emily Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not call this a bad book, just not a book for me.
The language is descriptive and interesting, but I couldn't get into the characters.
Think non-horror steven king. Great story, cold feelings.

[Quill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best writer I’ve ever read