Makes most practitioners of the art of fiction look like singers with only one song

His storytelling powers are so immense, so natural... He has more creative confidence than any living writer

Whatever region his writing inhabits, it is blazing with life and actuality

Isaac Bashevis Singer, in his short and humorous tales drawn from an old tradition, celebrates the dignity, mystery and unexpected joy of living with more art and fervor than any other writer... one of the very best storytellers

Amis applies his comic timing, his perfect pitch and his curatorial eye to some of the burning issues of our time

Alice Munro! Now that's writing

That Munro is a great writer of short stories should go without saying. She is also one of the two or three best writers of fiction (of any length) now alive

This superb collection...confirms Munro's place as the laureate of thwarted passion - and quite possibly the greatest short-story writer at work today