Alice Munro: 'Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage', 'Runaway', 'Dear Life' (Bloomsbury Studies in Contemporary North American Fiction)

The awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to the Canadian writer Alice Munro in 2013 confirmed her position as a master of the short story form. This book explores Munro's work from a full range of critical perspectives, focussing on three of her most popular and important published collections: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001), Runaway (2004), and her final collection Dear Life (2012). With chapters written by the world's leading critics of Munro's work, the short story form and contemporary Canadian writing, this book explores such themes as love and marriage, sex, fate, gender and humor in her writings as well as her approaches to narrative form and autobiography. In these three late collections Munro sharply articulates, again and again, the mysteries of being itself. Review Thacker's collection of essays on the work of Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro will be useful not only to students of Munro's work but also to creative writing students who want to crawl around in the rafters of story making to understand how the architect drew the plans, and to know the builder who constructed them. Munro's stories are inhabitable constructions, pieces of life recognizable as something that could so easily have been one's own. The story pulls the reader in, and on looking back one sees the deeper cord of meaning that was lying beneath the surface. Munro's stories seem so simple, like a story anyone could tell, but they are well built, as this collection reveals. One finds in Munro's stories moral debts that must be paid. The essays in this collection offer ways to get into the stories, collect the things one came for, and get out surprised by the unknowable truths now lying in plain sight. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. CHOICE About the Author Robert Thacker is Charles A. Dana Professor of Canadian Studies and English at St. Lawrence University, New York, USA. His many previous publications include Alice Munro: Writing Her Lives - A Biography (2005, revised 2011). Title Page Copyright Page Contents Series Editor’s Introduction Acknowledgments Introduction: “Durable and Freestanding”: The Late Art of Munro Alice Munro over Ontario A deepening geological sensibility: “Axis” Part 1 Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage Chapter 1 “The Key to the Treasure” Sex and Storytelling in Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage” “Floating Bridge” “Nettles” “Post and Beam” “What is Remembered” Chapter 2 Teaching and Conflict in Munro from “The Day of the Butterfly” to “Comfort” Classroom antics Surviving the boss of the classroom An ambivalent conclusion Chapter 3 Mistaken Identities in “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” Marriage and mischaracterization The problem of names Flowery expressions and fine distinctions Part 2 Runaway Chapter 4 Sibyl at the Kitchen Table, or Translating the Classics in “Hateship” and the Juliet Triptych Chapter 5 The Lives of Women and Men: Narrative Inflection in Alice Munro’s Runaway Narrative inflection: Readers, characters, and the control of indeterminacy Complex inflections The Juliet Triptych Munro and the narrative tradition Life, fate, and closure Chapter 6 “Old Confusions or Obligations”: Comic Vision in Runaway “Tricks” “Passion” The Juliet Triptych “Runaway” “Powers” Part 3 Dear Life Chapter 7 Traveling with Munro: Reading “To Reach Japan” For my mother, Jean Laurie Bowley, October 6, 1919–July 4, 2007, on my sixty-fifth birthday, Saturday July 25, 2015 Story as autobiography Story as metafiction Story as metaphor Story as allegory Coda Chapter 8 “Rage and Admiration”: Grotesque Humor in Dear Life “Pride” “Corrie” “Dolly” Chapter 9 “It Was[n’t] All Inward”: The Dynamics of Intimacy in the “Finale” of Dear Life Notes Introduction Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Works Cited Primary sources Archival sources Interviews with Munro Secondary sources Further Reading Notes on Contributors Volume Editor Contributors Index The Nobel Prize In Literature Awarded To The Canadian Writer Alice Munro In 2013 Confirmed Her Position As A Master Of The Short Story Form. This Book Explores Munro's Work From A Full Range Of Critical Perspectives, Focusing On Three Of Her Most Popular And Important Recent Collections: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001), Runaway (2004), And What Is Probably Her Final Collection Dear Life (2012). With Chapters Written By The World's Leading Critics Of Munro's Work, The Short Story Form And Contemporary Canadian Writing, This Book Explores Such Themes As Love And Marriage, Sex, Fate, Gender, And Humor In Her Writings As Well As Her Approaches To Narrative Form And Autobiography-- Introduction. Durable And Freestanding: The Late Art Of Munro / Robert Thacker -- Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. The Key To The Treasure / Charles E. May ; Teaching And Conflict In Munro From The Day Of The Butterflies To Comfort / Tracy Ware ; Mistake Identities In The Bear Came Over The Mountain / Robert Mcgill -- Runaway. Sibyl At The Kitchen Table, Or Translating The Classics In Hateship And The Juliet Triptych / Julie Rivkin ; The Lives Of Women And Men: Narrative Inflection In Alice Munro's Runaway / Eric Reeves ; Old Confusions Or Obligations: Comic Vision In Runaway / Lester E. Barber -- Dear Life. Traveling With Munro: Reading To Reach Japan / J. R. (tim) Struthers ; Rage And Admiration: Grotesque Humor In Dear Life / Ailsa Cox -- It Was[n't] All Inward: The Dynamics Of Intimacy In The Finale Of Dear Life / Linda M. Morra. Edited By Robert Thacker. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.