86 Best Canadian Stories

Terry Goldie is an associate professor of English at York University and
author of Fear and Temptation.

Twelve writers are included in this collection. They range from Dave Margoshes, of whom I had not heard, to Alice Munro, of whom I suspect everyone has heard, and a full range between.

These writers remain aware of the various avant-garde tendencies of the past twenty years but they use them with restraint (with the possible exception of Leon Rooke’s “Bennett” which, if I am not mistaken, is narrated by a group of flies and moves freely back and forth between their very articulate assessment of life and the “aw shucks” dialect of two humans they are watching).

I like the Munro, although I am not sure it is significantly different from much of her recent work. Ernst Havemann’s “Death of a Nation” is yet another view of the white liberal in South Africa who must deal with the personal reality of an old Black friend who is now “involved in the struggle.” Bharati Mukherjee’s indictment of racism, “A Wife’s Story,” stirs life into her narrator inan amazing way. She made me feel I was directly confronting this “voice” of the wife.

My favourite in the collection would be either this or the selection from Ray Smith, “In the Night, Heinrich Himmler.” Since he achieved fame with Lord Nelson Tavern about ten years ago, Smith has developed greatly. The narration of “In the Night” has that strange off-centred assurance which is so fascinating in various works by Timothy Findley.

This is a fine and entertaining collection. A number of established favorites are missing, such as Findley and Janette Turner Hospital, but it is never possible to include everyone. Some might think that Munro should be excluded in that she doesn’t need the exposure. If I were a writer included in 86, I would be very happy to share my space with a Munro.