2021 Reading for a Desert Island

 

I am consistently discombobulated as I read reviews and comments from others about how much they enjoyed this or that pile of new novels. Personally, I have managed two or three newish books, including Phyllis Humby's Old Broad Road, which is not only enjoyable but welcome and needed instruction for me as an apprentice writer in the art of narrative flow.

For me, if I could only take one book to a desert island this year, Alice Munro’s The Love of a Good Woman would be on my short-short list. 1998. Not even remotely newish. But compelling.

In this collection of short stories, she demonstrates her ability to tell interesting stories with incredible humanity in a masterful sophisticated way. I have just enough writing experience to recognize some of the triumphs of her dizzying skill. She manages to excel at both Craft and Voice simultaneously. I believe (and believe in) her characters and am captivated by the drive of her stories. I am in the early stages of developing as a writer of short works about people in the important small situations of their everyday lives, but I know just enough to feel awkward being in the same room with Alice Munro.