Peter Orner on Mavis Gallant’s enduring appeal

The Atlantic posted a breathtakingly great, wholly inspiring piece by (my client) Peter Orner yesterday called “The Way Vivid, Way Underappreciated Short Stories of Mavis Gallant.” Peter talks about the first story of Gallant’s that he read and says, “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it changed my reading life forever.”

Mavis Gallant is 90, living in Paris, and if you’ve read her, you know this: She is one of the finest short story writers of our time. After reading Peter’s piece, I dug up my copy of The Collected Stories of Mavis Gallant, (all 887 pages of it), and re-read “In Plain Sight.”

Here’s how the story begins:
On the first Wednesday of every month, sharp at noon, an air-raid siren wails across Paris, startling pigeons and lending an edge to the mid-day news. Older Parisians say it has the tone and pitch of a newsreel soundtrack. They think, Before the war, and remember things in black-and-white.

I’m always bewildered by readers who proudly say they “don’t like short stories.” What they are missing! Peter has said, “The difference between a short story and a novel is the difference between a pang in your heart and the tragedy of your whole life. Read a great story and there it is – right now – in your gut.”

And there it is in just the first few lines of a Mavis Gallant story. A trip to Paris, on a certain day at a certain time. People who don’t like short stories: What are we going to do with you.

Buy Mavis Gallant books here.

Pre-order Peter Orner’s new story collection, Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge, here.