Portrait

Alice Munro: My father was an unexceptional lumberjack.

(*five pages describing what a lumberjack does*)

Alice Munro: My mother was a typical housewife. I had an older brother. We were mean to each other, but not that mean. Could of.

(*Three pages showing that this is indeed true*)

Alice Munro: One day I went to work with my father.

(*Seven pages describing this during which Alice has no epiphanies, ideas, or observations*)

Alice Munro: Life in that typical small town sure was boring.

Readership: We can tell.