"Fourteen Days," edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston

Although many people feel that we are now beyond the COVID pandemic, it is still with us, and there are an increasing number of novels about it. "Fourteen Days" (Harper, 2024) describes the first two weeks after the lockdown was declared in New York City in March 2020. The unusual thing about the book -- besides the topic -- is that it is subtitled "A Collaborative Novel" and is co-authored by 36 prominent writers, such as Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Dave Eggers, Ishmael Reed, Scott Turow, and Meg Wolitzer (and edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston), and that the individual pieces/chapters do not reveal which was written by which author (although one can find this information in the back of the book). The premise of the book is that the residents of a rundown apartment building start to gather on the rooftop, the only place they can get fresh air while socially distancing. Gradually, these characters start telling stories, some eagerly and some reluctantly, about very different topics at different time periods and in very different styles. The effect is to draw the residents together, although many are still wary of each other. The stories are almost all very compelling, for the participants as well as for us, the readers. The collection of stories, the ways they are told, and the relationships among the tellers, are reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales and the Decameron. We are also reminded of other storytelling situations through history, especially those in the midst of difficult, precarious times. Part of the appeal here is the confluence of the various characters and stories with the current dilemma they all share, as they are trapped by the pandemic, and are surrounded by its effects (sirens wailing, refrigerated trucks with bodies, the deterioration of their building and of course the psychological impacts of it all). I wasn't quite sure how I would respond to this book, but I found myself completely drawn into it; it is truly -- despite the terrible events -- enthralling reading.

RIP Alice Munro

A great light has gone out. Generally acknowledged to be one of the best short story writers ever, the Canadian writer Alice Munro died yesterday. She was 92 years old. She was highly lauded by many, and received many awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Most of her stories are set in rural Ontario, which is where Munro lived for most of her life, and most often focus on women in that milieu. She has been compared to fellow short story writers Katherine Anne Porter and Raymond Carver. Fellow writers have praised her highly. Edna O'Brien ranked her with William Faulkner and James Joyce as influences on her work. Cynthia Ozick called her "our Chekhov." (I drew on today's New York Times article/obituary, by Anthony DePalma, for some of the above.) I have long read and loved Munro's stories (and her one novel, which she later said was more a series of linked stories); her work is so very original, powerful, psychologically astute, and perceptive. I have posted about her work here (e.g., on 7/22/10, 12/6/12, 10/10/13, and 8/3/14). What I have written today seems vastly inadequate, but I hope readers either already know her work, or will seek it out.