So Beautiful

'Ramona Dearing writes in a marvellously understated but powerful fashion about the lives of everyday people. There are, in her fiction, no easy, facile endings, no "issues" that come before character. Her stories are at times funny, at times sad in the most wonderfully redemptive way.'

So Beautiful, a first book from Newfoundland writer Ramona Dearing, is a perfect example of why short stories matter, and why more people should read them. This collection of thirteen is funny, edgy, completely absorbing, impresssive in its variety of subjects and characters. Dearing has the knack of grabbing your attention from the first sentence and never letting go.

'Ramona Dearing is a Newfoundland-based writer and member of the Burning Rock literary collective. Although she has published in several literary magazines, So Beautiful is her first short-story collection. By and large, Dearing's characters are ordinary people in bleak, but realistic, circumstances. In one story, Lucy is in love with Mitch, who, in turn, fosters the crush out of boredom and loneliness. In another, a graduate student learns to deal with an emotionally needy roommate who just might be dipping her toothbrush in the toilet for fun. Darlene, in a third tale, comes home from school to discover that her parents have put the family dogs to sleep. The characters are all regular folk, if a little hard, and their situations are commonplace, if disagreeable. Dearing's gift, then, lies not so much in the tales as in the telling. Her characters are heartbreakingly aware, and Dearing's curt prose is more evocative of their deep emotions than any florid writing style would be. Dearing, in fact, is a literary minimalist in a similar manner to Alice Munro; those who enjoy Munro will be delighted to read works by this new author. Perhaps influenced by the geography of her home province, Dearing has created a collection that is stunning in its fierce austerity. In other words, it lives up to its name.'

"So Beautiful," a first book from Newfoundland writer Ramona Dearing, is a perfect example of why short stories matter, and why more people should read them. This collection of thirteen is funny, edgy, completely absorbing, impressive in its variety of subjects and characters. Dearing has the knack of grabbing your attention from the first sentence and never letting go.'

"So Beautiful", a first book from Newfoundland writer Ramona Dearing, is a perfect example of why short stories matter, and why more people should read them. This collection of thirteen is funny, edgy, completely absorbing, impressive in its variety of subjects and characters. Dearing has the knack of grabbing your attention from the first sentence and never letting go.'

Ramona Dearing's "So Beautiful" is a terrific collection of stories about the people you get stuck with in life. Roommates, siblings, drinking buddies, all the ones you think you would never choose, but who become central to the way you function in the world and even to the way that you evaluate your own worth.'

Dearing's greatest strength is her understated style. Entire lives lie under the surface of her sentences, and characters convey more in what they don't say than in what they do. Dearing also shows a startling versatility for a new writer, with her stories covering various territories, not only of Canadian geography, but also of social class, emotion, and, most of all, identity. Equally as impressive, Dearing refuses to provide easy answers for her characters' problems. There are no feel-good endings here, no morally correct resolutions to complicated situations. Instead, there are believable human tales. "So Beautiful" isn't a book that lays out what people should be--it's a book that sums up what they are, and what they can never be.'

Ramona Dearing is a Newfoundland-based writer and member of the Burning Rock literary collective. Although she has published in several literary magazines, So Beautiful is her first short-story collection. By and large, Dearing's characters are ordinary people in bleak, but realistic, circumstances. In one story, Lucy is in love with Mitch, who, in turn, fosters the crush out of boredom and loneliness. In another, a graduate student learns to deal with an emotionally needy roommate who just might be dipping her toothbrush in the toilet for fun. Darlene, in a third tale, comes home from school to discover that her parents have put the family dogs to sleep. The characters are all regular folk, if a little hard, and their situations are commonplace, if disagreeable. Dearing's gift, then, lies not so much in the tales as in the telling. Her characters are heartbreakingly aware, and Dearing's curt prose is more evocative of their deep emotions than any florid writing style would be. Dearing, in fact, is a literary minimalist in a similar manner to Alice Munro; those who enjoy Munro will be delighted to read works by this new author. Perhaps influenced by the geography of her home province, Dearing has created a collection that is stunning in its fierce austerity. In other words, it lives up to its name.'

'Ramona Dearing's "So Beautiful" is a terrific collection of stories about the people you get stuck with in life. Roommates, siblings, drinking buddies, all the ones you think you would never choose, but who become central to the way you function in the world and even to the way that you evaluate your own worth.'

'"So Beautiful," a first book from Newfoundland writer Ramona Dearing, is a perfect example of why short stories matter, and why more people should read them. This collection of thirteen is funny, edgy, completely absorbing, impressive in its variety of subjects and characters. Dearing has the knack of grabbing your attention from the first sentence and never letting go.'