Canadian writer Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Munro, 82, has written over a dozen short story collections in her career. Most of her stories–composed in a mode of psychological realism reminiscent of 19th-century modernism—focus on the lives of people in a small rural pocket of Canada. Munro’s stories appear with an almost-alarming ubiquity, popping up every year in the big anthologies and the best magazines (Jonathan Franzen’s 2004 claim that “outside of Canada, where her books are No. 1 best sellers, she has never had a large readership” strikes me as odd).
For an appreciative and comprehensive look at her work, take a look at this guide at The Millions. For a contrarian take on Munro, read Christian Lorentzen’s essay in The LRB.
Or, better yet, make your own informed opinion by reading some of her stories:
“The Bear Came Over the Mountain”
Biblioklept 
Reblogged this on WHAT'S UP WITH ME AND STUFF and commented:
This just goes to show that you never give up . Nobel Prize at 82 in Literature, that is awesome.
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That’s what I was thinking. It kind of takes the pressure off when you realize you don’t need to be great right now to eventually get there. But it would be nice! :)
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Reblogged this on silence cunning exile … maple syrup .
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It depends on how you want to define the concept of unread/underread. Yes, Munro is widely anthologized, but her name never seems to come up when people discuss the big, contemporary “literary” writers—Franzen, Chabon, etc.—or when mentioning the writers of her generation, like Roth or Updike. Then there’s the fact her work doesn’t fit into what’s fashionable among the book blogs I peruse, being that of those writers who favor maximalist, brick-like prose.
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Does Franzen wake up each day thinking to himself, “What ignorant thing can I say today that people will take seriously since for some godforsaken reason I am considered the authoritative voice of American letters?”
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Reblogged this on queequegannamite and commented:
Alice MUNRO wins 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature
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