Friends of My Youth by Alice Munro

 

Despite her recent cancellation, Alice Munro is a genius. Going back and re-reading her now is stunning and numbing: her men are cruel and selfish, her women are passive and selfish, the northern landscape is bleak and cold, but other setting details are lavishly and lovingly rendered: interiors, trees, flowers, clothes, anything inanimate with color.

"Friend of My Youth"

"Five Points"

"Meneseteung"

"Hold Me Fast, Don't Let Me Pass"

"Oranges and Apples"

"Pictures of the Ice"

"Goodness and Mercy"

"Oh, What Avails"

"Differently"

"Wigtime"