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This short story collection takes the listener to Moore's native Canada for glimpses at the extraordinary as found in everyday life. She shares scenes from marriages and friendships, putting the spotlight on pivotal moments when life truly happens. Following each tale are interesting musical and sound effects interludes, such as bells, trombones, and even sounds from a Havana bike shop. Each of the 10 stories is read by a single narrator, the best of whom is Mary Lewis. She brings gentle charm and subtle feeling to the collection's longest story, "Grace." Masterful at articulating dialogue without employing different voices, she lends appropriate emphasis to the serendipitous moments explored in the story. The stories are a great choice when listening time is limited. J.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

February 1, 2006
This collection of ten unusual short stories, short-listed for the Giller Prize, peers into the lives of Newfoundlanders as they try to understand and manage their lives. Moore probes into her characters' psyches with a stream-of-consciousness style that reveals their inner experiences. Her sentences and images tumble out in rapid-fire prose, imitating the flash of thoughts triggered by present experience. In -Melody, - a 40-year-old widow, now unhappily remarried, anticipates her college friend Melody's visit. While preparing, she reflects on her college years, her first husband's death, and the time she accompanied Melody to have an abortion. At times Moore's style hinders understanding, as in -The Way the Light Is, - where the images of a film script and the internal narrative come so fast and are so tightly interwoven that the thread is difficult to discern. -Grace, - however, excels in its portrait of a marriage coming apart. The author reads three of the stories, while Holly Hogan and Mary Lewis read the others. All convey Moore's text with clarity and authenticity; recommended for large public libraries." -Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.