Rating: 
Summary: they sneak up on you
Review: These are deceptive stories, in a way. It's easy not to notice at first how deep and complex they are. You start reading, you get kind of sucked in, and then before you know it you're crying your eyes out.
Rating:
Summary: On the run fun.
Review: What I love about short stories is that they are short. The writer, if good at his/her craft, has to get to it, now. No beating around the proverbial bush. And so it is with Alice Munro's "Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories". Heck, the title is almost as long as several of the stories told within. This is the first Alice Munro collection that I have had the pleasure of reading. I'm hooked. Like home cooking. Her folksy dialogues and her excellent characterizations, ie; "Her teeth were crowded to the front of her mouth as if they were ready for an argument.", quickly endeared me to her writing style. Her simple words and discriptions made me feel warm and cozy. This is the kind of book that you can pack around with you. When it comes time for your lunch break at work, you can haul out the book and read a complete story. This is good stuff for someone who is forever on the run, like me! Cammy Diaz, lawyer.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Intense Stories
Review: With many short story collections, the author gives us a quick, and sometimes fleeting glimpse of the inner workings of the stories' characters and lives. Perhaps because they are "short" stories, they somehow lack the emotional power of a fully developed novel. Not so with the stories in this collection. All nine stories in this collection are powerful and intense and give you the full picture. Munro has the ability to let you see somehow beyond the story because each story has tremendous depth. I thought these were terrific, and very memorable, stories.
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