Alice Munro: Vintage Munro

 It is always a marvel to me when I happen to read a book just as its relevance is at its height--either in my own life, or in that of the greater discourse.  Munro's death coincided suspiciously with my reading of this collection, along with a renewed discussion of her problematic history.  It all adds up, though.  The stories are filled with women in search of something, without ever finding it, and especially in love.  Unlike in life, however, the women in her stories don't seem to hurt anyone but themselves.