She writes with a beautiful clarity, an elemental humanity and a marvellous, limpid, funny, apprehension of what goes on

Some of the most honest, intuitive and exacting fiction, long or short, of our time

Munro's bold, unflinching narratives have taken the short story places many a novelist has feared to tread... That she does this in a style both calm and deliberate, fluid yet tightly controlled, stark yet compassionate, is what makes her insights into the human condition so profound

Written with veteran assurance, brimming with intensely believable characters and rich social detail, these dispatches from the most unsparing reaches of Munro's imagination confirm her acclaimed place on the highest ground of contemporary fiction

Alice Munro commands enormous respect and almost uncritical adoration from her readers

Too Much Happiness is her 11th collection, and as brilliant and surprising as any ... who could be better?

She has the lightest of touches, with every word seeming entirely necessary, but nothing set in stone....remarkable collection

Munro is famously hard to write about, in part because she's the opposite of the Borges character who joked about belonging not to art but to the history of art. Far from hanging on to the gates of literature, her stories create a powerful illusion of bringing their readers up against unmediated life; and life isn't penetrable by the normal procedures of book reviewing. Is Too Much Happiness as substantial a collection as Runaway (2004) or Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001)? The only sensible answer is to recommend buying all three

As strong and vivid as ever... a gift for the humane observation and the specific, plausible detail

Assured collection from the short-story queen

A fine collection by a true craftsman, thematically rich and deeply humane.

Can we just accept that Bernard MacLaverty is one of the greats now? In this, his latest collection of short stories, the Glasgow-based Northern Irish writer reminds us of his range and power.

Inventive, dazzling, devastating and laugh out loud funny, the stories in Shine/Variance are all this and more. It's exhilarating to read such remarkable writing. An astonishingly good debut from a writer who clearly finds joy in language

This collection depicts with caustic wit and insight the undersides of Irish domesticity: the quiet angers and atrophying dissatisfactions. Flaunting an enviable dexterity in both voice and style, Shine/Variance is an addictive collection, rich in moments that linger in your consciousness

Stephen Walsh's stories are often playful, sometimes twisted, in form and tone, but the dexterity on display allows for deep, subtle and profoundly moving explorations of modern life

A striking new talent in Irish literature. These stories vibrate with wry humour while always packing a serious emotional punch. Slyly revealing how we communicate today; how the language of modern technology, travel, lifestyle and ambition have infiltrated our deepest thoughts, Walsh illustrates that, in fact, little has changed in the human heart since James Joyce published Dubliners, which this collection brings to mind. Hugely entertaining, gripping and moving, Shine/Variance announces the arrival of a wonderful new voice for our times

[K-Ming Chang] is back with her signature precise and enthralling prose in this short-story collection.

K-Ming Chang's inspired mix of magic and realism returns in full fabulist force. . . . The stories are eclectic . . . and united by Chang's fascination with the queer and quotidian in her characters' worlds. . . . Piercing.

Her new short-story collection Gods of Want both widens and calcifies the expansiveness of her range. . . . Chang is singular amongst us all. . . . New work from Chang is a cause for celebration-a holiday in its own right-and it's also a reminder of the infinite possibilities on the page. . . . Nothing short of marvelous.