The Canadian Short Story

This survey traces the development of the Canadian short story from its 19th-century origins in the sketch and the tale to widespread international recognition in the 1980s. Gadpaille traces the beginnings of realism in the work of such early writers as Roberts, Seton, Knister, Callaghan, and Garner; explores the positive and negative influence of the realist tradition in the work of later writers; and looks in depth at the work of the three most important modern practitioners of the Canadian short story--Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro, and Margaret Atwood.