Munro, Alice 1931–

A Canadian short story writer and novelist, Ms Munro first received widespread recognition for her collection Dance of the Happy Shades. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 33-36.)

The short story is alive and well in Canada, where most of [the] 15 tales [in "Dance of the Happy Shades"] originate like fresh winds from the North. Alice Munro … creates a solid habitat for her fiction—southwestern Ontario, a generation or more in the past—and is in sympathetic vibration with the farmers and townspeople who live there.

Realist though she is, the author elects to arrive at revelations rather than ironies…. Miss Munro poses more questions than answers—a refreshing strategy. (p. 48)

Martin Levin, in The New York Times Book Review (© 1973 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), September 23, 1973.

["Dance of the Happy Shades" is a...

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