Making Light of Tragedy - Softcover

This collection is worth the purchase price for the opening story alone: a wife's tale of her ski-jumper husband, who takes off in Olympic competition and just never comes down, in a scant six pages meditating touchingly and amusingly on faith, science, the media and love. Twenty-two more brief, compelling, smart and funny stories follow. Their subjects range from the nature of ugliness to the lengths one man will go to avoid shoveling snow; their wit and heart, and Grant's abundant skill, are reminiscent of the author's fellow Newfoundlander Lorrie Moore.'

"Making Light of Tragedy" is aptly titled; its stories are sharp, observant and a great pleasure to read, and their mostly serious subject matter is thoroughly skewered. Grant has delivered an impressive debut. This is a provocative and engaging collection that left this writer wanting more.'

Grant's "Making Light of Tragedy" is a book for the eclectic coffee shop, preferably midday when the cafA(c) is busy and chances are good that you'll bump into someone who is curious about what you are reading -- because you will want to talk about some, if not all, of the twenty-three stories.'

"Making Light of Tragedy" is a stunning debut from Jessica Grant, who gets my vote for most promising short story writer in Canada. The book collects 23 short stories and recalls in some respects the wonderful stories of David Arnason, though Grant's writing is much less fantastical and also more concerned with character. The stories are smart, funny, and even sweet at moments without becoming saccharine. There is also a certain degree of arrogance to the prose and on the part of the many first-person narrators. It's a welcoming, self-assured sort of arrogance, the kind that is sorely lacking in too much Canadian fiction.'

The majority of these stories ... take only a few paragraphs to assume a vivid largeness. Their worlds feel, if not always lived in, at least concrete. Happily, the book ends on a peak with "Milaken," the longest and most intimate story. Revolving around the rock-climbing title character whose father named her after his favourite brand of cement, the story highlights the greatest strengths of Grant's writing. The story is observant, playful, and empathetic. As the characters ask themselves if they would be willing to sever one of their arms and leave it trapped under a boulder forever just to go on living, we glimpse the varied ways the question echoes through their lives. Here Grant draws resonance from the hypothetical. Her rewarding excursions into this protean realm make for a promising debut.'

'"Making Light of Tragedy" is aptly titled; its stories are sharp, observant and a great pleasure to read, and their mostly serious subject matter is thoroughly skewered. Grant has delivered an impressive debut. This is a provocative and engaging collection that left this writer wanting more.'

'Grant's "Making Light of Tragedy" is a book for the eclectic coffee shop, preferably midday when the cafA(c) is busy and chances are good that you'll bump into someone who is curious about what you are reading -- because you will want to talk about some, if not all, of the twenty-three stories.'

Jessica Grant flies under the radar of realism to find targets worth writing about. These stories are profound, magical and true to life. Nothing seems impossible. It's good to be reminded of that.