And the Nobel prize for literature 2013...

[poohbear_nc]

If you're having trouble with Alice Munro, I wonder if you might prefer another great Canadian short story writer: Mavis Gallant, whom many would say is Alice Munro's equal, but whose style and sensibility are very different. Mavis writes like a classic émigré. I love the fact she's a French Canadian who speaks her mother tongue when she's out and about in Paris (or perhaps revisiting Montreal), only to go home to write exclusively in English.

I heartily second this endorsement - Gallant's Paris Stories are magnificently understated tales of quiet lives in emotional train-wrecks .... read slowly for the rich detail & nuances.