Mavis Gallant’s “Virus X” (1965)

2019-03-20T09:49:50-04:00

Vera’s sister-in-law sends tins of aspirin in her care packages, always with one pill missing. Nobody knows why, and, at the heart of it, this is what this forty-page-long story is all about. Nah, I’m making a joke. Actually, stealing one. Because it’s Vera who thinks it’s amusing to lend

Mavis Gallant’s “Virus X” (1965)2019-03-20T09:49:50-04:00

Mavis Gallant’s “Potter” (1977)

2018-12-12T14:53:51-05:00

At first it is surprising. To come across the word ‘defenestration’ in a Mavis Gallant story. Often these are inward-looking stories, detailed and expansive glimpses into the interior lives of quiet – and often solitary – characters. Someone drives too quickly or protests the contents of a sermon, someone

Mavis Gallant’s “Potter” (1977)2018-12-12T14:53:51-05:00

Mavis Gallant’s “Gabriel Baum 1935-” (1979)

2018-11-28T15:03:06-05:00

When readers meet Gabriel it is 1960 and he is twenty-five years old, fresh from having served in the French army for twenty months in Algeria. “War had never been declared. What Gabriel had engaged in was a long tactical exercise for which there was no compensation except experience.”

Mavis Gallant’s “Gabriel Baum 1935-” (1979)2018-11-28T15:03:06-05:00

Mavis Gallant’s “The Latehomecomer” (1974)

2018-11-19T18:14:22-05:00

Just four weeks ago, I was commenting on the first story in From the Fifteenth District, a novella, and noting how many key elements of Mavis Gallant’s storytelling were present in “The Four Seasons”. In “The Latehomecomer”, not only do some familiar elements resurface, but an actual character reappears.

Mavis Gallant’s “The Latehomecomer” (1974)2018-11-19T18:14:22-05:00

Mavis Gallant’s “In the Tunnel” (1970)

2018-08-27T12:36:30-04:00

Having had such a difficult relationship with her mother, Mavis Gallant must have hoped for more from her father. But think of the separateness of the child and father in “Wing’s Chips” (a story with outward similarities to some of Gallant’s childhood experiences). And the outright conflict in “The Rejection”. She

Mavis Gallant’s “In the Tunnel” (1970)2018-08-27T12:36:30-04:00
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