Guests
by Fidel, July 15, 2005 1:30 PM
I regret coming so late to Alistair MacLeod, this guy can really write! His style and sentences are deceptively simple, and the book itself seems too small to contain all the heart he plows into it. He's been publishing for more than 30 years, but has only completed two short story collections and one novel. When you read MacLeod, you'll recognize why it takes him so long to finish a story ? they are all little pieces of perfection, no fat, no pretense, just elegant writing and human stories with wonderful characters. I hate sentimental schlock, and what continues to amaze me about MacLeod is his ability to tread so deftly on that sharp edge between the heartfelt and the sentimental, never falling into simpering abyss. If you like the kinds of stories Alice Munro, Eudora Welty, or Hemingway write, MacLeod is for you.
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