A review by rebadee
The Cost of Living: Early and Uncollected Stories by Mavis Gallant

5.0

Mavis Gallant's short story collection The Cost of Living allows readers a glimpse at the evolution of a writer over twenty years. These stories are intricately pretty on the surface, hinting at murky depths below. Each story in the collection provides plenty of material for study and contemplation. In Thieves and Rascals from the July 1956 issue of Esquire, Gallant endows a woman with a powerful monologue on the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion of dealing with inappropriate men, which could have been cut and pasted from a recent think piece on #MeToo. The power of Gallant's craft is indisputable throughout this collection.