Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
NYRB Classics (2002), Paperback, 400 pages
Description
A NEW YORK REVIEW BOOKS ORIGINAL Mavis Gallant is a contemporary legend, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker for close to fifty years who has, in the words of The New York Times, "radically reshaped the short story for decade after decade." Michael Ondaatje's new selection of Gallant's work gathers some of the most memorable of her stories set in Europe and Paris, where Gallant has long lived. Mysterious, funny, insightful, and heartbreaking, these are tales of expatriates and exiles, wise children and straying saints. Together they compose a secret history, at once intimate and panoramic, of modern times.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Laura400
The perfect short story collection by a masterly writer.
LibraryThing member woakden
I enjoyed this. Some of the stories I had to re-read. I think this is a book that I wouldn't have enjoyed before, but there were nuggets here and there. Mostly the stories which left me really depressed were the ones that, upon re-reading, left me with something worthwhile.
LibraryThing member TomMcGreevy
Gallant's writing is pointillist, if one can refer to prose in this way ... a great deal of detail but often not tied to conventional narrative. Her tone usually is unsympathetic - she reports, does not obviously judge, nor try to understand her characters through airing their own self-deceptions.
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Overall the collection left me feeling quite hollow, chilled. I am glad I read this having heard much praiseworthy about her as an author but I won't read more. Show Less
LibraryThing member snash
This is a collection of stories set in Europe, mostly Paris. The characters are well drawn, as is the setting. The sense is of lost, displaced people trying to find a sense of attachment and belonging. Some excellent writing.
LibraryThing member archangelsbooks
Gallant is an extraordinary writer. She is the kind of writer who, when you read one of her stories for the first time, makes you say "why haven't I been reading her all my life." If you have not done so already, do so now.
Subjects
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2007)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
400 p.; 8.02 inches
ISBN
1590170229 / 9781590170229
Local notes
The Ice Wagon Going Down the Street. Irina. The Latehomecomer. In Transit. The Moslem Wife. From the Fifteenth District. Speck’s Idea. Baum, Gabriel 1935-. The Remission. Grippes and Poches. Forain. August. Mlle. Dias De Corta. In Plain Sight. Scarves, Beads, Sandals