Review: Alice Munro: Too Much Happiness

You may be new to Alice Munro, heck, you may be new to reading in general, and if you’re often overwhelmed by trying to get through a massive novel, fear not, Alice Munro’s latest is just for you. Too Much Happiness is a collection of short stories.
They may be short in length but Munro seems to be at her finest in every story packing a considerable punch. Stories filled with horror and human emotion drip off the pages, and in such a few pages, Alice Munro is able to make these stories seem so authentic. The opening story is Dimensions, which tells the story of Doree, a woman who is on her way to visit her estranged husband. Why they are estranged becomes shocking clear, and illustrates the sheer complexities that exist in human relationships and how one tries to cope with what would seem to be an insurmountable loss.

Their’s an old saying that the more you laugh in a short period, the more you’ll cry down the road. The purpose behind it is to stay even keel, not to get to carried away by the happy moments or the sad moments. Too Much Happiness seems to live by that mantra.

Many state that the pastime of reading is falling by the wayside, especially the art of the short story. Those folk should likely read Munro’s latest collection of short stories, because not only are short stories alive, they’ll likely bring new readers into the fold.