Red Plaid Shirt

by Diane Schoemperlen

Diane Schoemperlen has been described variously as “one of the most vibrant and original voices in our literature,” “incredibly intelligent and observant,” “funny,” and “creatively innovative.”She was the 1998 winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction for Forms of Devotion , her collection of short stories and pictures. And her most recent novel, the bestselling Our Lady of the Lost and Found , is being simultaneously released in trade paperback as this newest collection appears on the shelves.

With Red Plaid Shirt , Schoemperlen shows that she is a writer at the top of her form – an intriguing, wonderfully shape-shifting one, at that. Red Plaid Shirt presents 21 perfectly formed stories, a blend of favorites, out-of-print pieces and new work, all displaying Schoemperlen’s trademark wit, subtle irony and gift for turning everyday domesticities into dynamic, provocative prose.

“Losing Ground”is a coming-of-age story in which a teenage girl starts to see herself as separate from her family. In “This Town,” Schoemperlen creates a witty newcomers’ guidebook to an ordinary town – complete with handy cross-references. In “A Simple Story,” a tale of a man and his mistress is gradually uncovered, as a seemingly simple car accident unravels an epic tangle of lives and loves. As always, these are compulsively readable stories, deliciously difficult to resist, proving once again that Schoemperlen’s voice is as fresh, funny, and electric as ever.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canada

309 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Diane Schoemperlen, short-story writer, novelist, teacher, editor (b at Thunder Bay, Ont 9 July 1954). Diane Schoemperlen grew up in Thunder Bay, Ont, and attended Lakehead University. After graduating in 1976, she spent a summer studying at the Banff Centre, under such writers as W.O. MITCHELL and Alice MUNRO. Since 1986, she has focused on her writing career and has taught creative writing at schools such as St Lawrence College and the Kingston School of Writing. She currently lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Reviews

[Crabbygirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

i first happened upon diane schoemperlen back in my university days with 'The Man of my Dreams', a collection of short stories.  i loved it; she used cyndi lauper lyrics as an epigraph and it felt so relevant, so NOW.  heck - i never understood the purprose of an epigraph before i read her stories.
maybe i loved her even more because i'd found her on my own - not directed by literary critics or a fellow reader.  i found her and she felt like mine.  i've read everything else she's written - her growing up in experience and material right along side me.  she broke the form of fiction long before it became in vogue (or a marketing ploy) to do so.
reading her latest collection of short stories Red Plaid Shirt: Stories New and Collected, is a tiny bit like visiting the suck fairy (you'd have to read the girl detective blog to understand that term)... i can see where critics may have been harsh - some repetitive metaphors, some constant themes.  but i defend her to the end: they are good metaphors, real ones...  and don't our own lives revolve around 2 or 3 pivotal moments that WE keep going back to - how are authors any different?
in particular, i've retold the following analogy of love for decades: a horse running headlong down a track while a train barrels towards it - which would you rather be?  the one being crushed, or one doing the crushing?
i'd forgotten where that image - that story - came from.  i rediscovered it this book :)  it was from The Man of my Dreams - to think i've carried it for some 20years...
and lastly, maybe more importantly, reading diane shoemperlen makes me want to write again

[Luce Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually like compilations of short stories. But I sure enjoyed this one. All stories are in the unique Schoemperlen style, with wry humour and a keen sense of cutting to the truth of matters. My favourite story in the collection was undoubtedly "Forms of devotion". Inspirational, and very apt to my life situations.
All are stories to be read, and re-read over the years.
A greatly cherished Christmas gift from my sister.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't love all the stories, but loved enough of them to make it a worthwhile read. "How deep is the river?" was my favourite as it played directly in to my reluctantly fatalistic view of the world.

Actually, I loved the writing more than anything...

"If the present is frequently confusing, at least the future and the exquisite weight of its abundant possibilities are always clear." p. 260

[Erika Nerdypants · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good selection of short stories. I like Schoemperlen's style of writing, it is always unexpected and refreshing. Having said that, I like some of the stories in the book better than others. The title story is exquisite, as are "Stranger things", and "A Simple Story".

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only story I liked was Red Plaid Shirt. Don't know if you can exactly call it a story but I thought it was a nice lyrical poem.

[WomanofSpirit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed.

[Joanne-in-Canada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains one of my favourite short stories, written like a math word problem. (Title to follow)

[Wendy Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit redundant - more like poetry than prose. I did not finish reading it