Synopses & Reviews
For the first time, all of Carol Shields's remarkable short stories are gathered together in one volume. This definitive anthology contains the previously unpublished story "Segue," her last work.
In these stories Carol Shields combines the dazzling virtuosity and wise maturity that won so many readers to her prize-winning novels. With her exquisite eye for detail and her eagerness to explore the most fundamental of relationships and the wildest of coincidences, she illuminates the absurdities and miracles that grace all of our lives.
Playful, charming, acutely observed, and generous of spirit, this collection of stories will delight and enchant readers the world over.
Review
“Full of wonder and serendipity…the stories are truly remarkable, combining great good humor with poignant observation.” Seattle Times
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“Surprising, daring, and varied...Shields Collected Stories makes you feel more keenly the premature loss of her tremendous talent. Rocky Mountain News
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“Sublime...Original…Superb…These surprising, effervescent stories can only help to ensure the power of [Shields] legacy.” Miami Herald
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“A joyride…One delightful turn after another.” Boston Globe
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“Marvelous…This big, beautiful collection should win Shields the devoted readership she deserves.” O magazine
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“A master storyteller of complex and surprisingly nuanced life stories.” Providence Journal
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“Shields writes about whimsy, happenstance and serendipity, tragedies that really arent, and clean, cutting prose about things that really hurt…Amazing.” Denver Post
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“A revelation and a delight.” Cleveland Plain Dealer
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“Transcendent…Shieldss stories are made of the fresh air and sunshine of comfortable daily life.” New York Sun
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“Genius…[Shields] is one of our strongest voices in literature.” Charlotte Observer
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“A magisterial compilation... Shields has left us with an intricate literary map of human relationships.” Washington Post Book World
Synopsis
With a new Introduction by Margaret Atwood, this essential anthology represents the entire writing career of Carol Shields, from 1985 until her untimely death in 2003.
About the Author
Carol Shields was born and brought up in Chicago but lived in Canada for most of her life. She was the author of eight novels -- including Larry's Party and The Stone Diaries -- and three collections of short stories: Various Miracles, The Orange Fish, and Dressing Up for the Carnival. Her work won many prestigious awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction. Her final novel, Unless, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.She died in 2003.