My Lord Bag of Rice: New and Selected Stories Book

Forget the Bible, these are the greatest stories ever told. Carol Bly is like a god to me, only not as harsh. In MY LORD BAG OF RICE: NEW AND SELECTED STORIES she creates a universe in Minnesota and populates it with regular people mostly going about their normal lives and finds that junction where their moral core is tested. As Tobias Wolff notes in his introduction Bly is a master of her craft, but craft in and of itself never mattered that much to me. On the framework on her art rises a humanity and emotional oomph that may be supported by craft but speaks to a talent well beyond mere artisanship. Her work is both regional and universal. She writes about standing up to power on a micro level that never ignores the macro. Her tales aren't explicitly political, but they don't ignore how the political is present in even the most personal of our relationships. Each and every one of the stories in this collection hit me in the heart. I loved them, and I want to read everything Bly ever wrote.