A Writer From The Country Next Door

In her appreciation of Alice Munro, Alison Lurie makes the relevant point that though Canada may be looked upon with condescension by the USA, it nevertheless has "the possession of many of the most brilliant and original writers in North America." Turning to Munro, she says that "delayed recognition" came her way because "her stories...avoid the subjects that today most often guarantee popular success in America: money, fame, power, and the exploitation of dramatic news events...Moreover, most of her characters are not rich and glamorous: they are ordinary working-class men and—especially—women, the sort of people that much popular fiction pretends do not exist."