Various Miracles
by Carol Shields
On This Page
Description
The small miracles of our day-to-day lives are on captivating display in this unforgettable collection by Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shields Various Miracles brings together twenty-one short stories, modern parables that illuminate the mysteries of everyday existence. In the title story, four strangers on a bus are all reading the same book. In "Fragility," Ivy's husband reflects on their marriage, the death of their young son, Christopher, and the plane ride that will deliver them to a show more new life. From "The Metaphor Is Dead - Pass It On" to "Home" to "Others"--in which a couple's act of generosity is repaid in annual Christmas cards with no return address--this collection is by turns witty, inventive, and moving. Whether portraying a violinist yearning to break free of overprotective parents or an elderly widow mowing her lawn to the thunderous timpani of memory, Carol Shields depicts the struggles of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. It's a world where magic coexists with reality, and where leaps of faith and acts of kindness create their own miracles. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This collection of gentle and engaging stories was a joy to read, cover to cover. Carol Shields highlights ordinary characters in everyday circumstances, but as the title implies, she weaves in an element of the not-quite-normal in each vignette. Her writing in this collection is marked by an optimistic realism with a nod to the idea that coincidences allude to a more significant connections between people and circumstances than we often are willing to observe. It's not all peaches and cream or happy endings, there is reality in the mundanity, but the life of each of the quirky characters is tainted by just a hint of the surreal.
I love Shields' writing style and her attention to detail alongside enduring wisdom is evident in her show more carefully crafted stories. Some of the stories fell a little flat for me, others grew a bit too monotonous or boring. But each character/life study afforded a perspective from which I wanted to see, and in that, it is a truly impressive and lovely collection. show less
I love Shields' writing style and her attention to detail alongside enduring wisdom is evident in her show more carefully crafted stories. Some of the stories fell a little flat for me, others grew a bit too monotonous or boring. But each character/life study afforded a perspective from which I wanted to see, and in that, it is a truly impressive and lovely collection. show less
A series of very Carol Shields short stories. She does so well writing about relationships. I enjoyed the “miracles” thread that connected these stories.
LIked it, didn't love it. Prefer her novels - which in a sense tie a number of linked short stories together.
(one of 24 books found today at 2nd hand shop...24 for $10!)
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
500 Great Books by Women
507 works; 60 members
Author Information
35+ Works 17,678 Members
Carol Shields is a writer and critic who was born on June 2, 1935 in Chicago and grew up in Illinois. Shields resided in Canada, where she was the Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg, and a professor at the University of Manitoba. Shields's first novel, Small Ceremonies, was published the week of her 40th birthday. Her other works of fiction show more include The Orange Fish, Larry's Party, Various Miracles, and The Stone Diaries, which received the Governor's General Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Shields has also been awarded the Canadian Bookseller's Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the CBC Prize for Drama. She died on July 16, 2003. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1985
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 215
- Popularity
- 152,508
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.79)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 16
- ASINs
- 3
