when i am frustrated in my search for a good novel to read, like lately, i turn to short stories and am never disappointed.  case in point...Alice Munro.  this is my forth or fifth collection of her stories and i'm always impressed. here we have a collection of really good stories, two or three being excellent, of women in relationship to the men in their lives...fathers, brothers, lovers, and husbands.  Alice may have been truly deficient in the motherhood department, as has come to light lately, but she is a master at her craft.