This was the first of several volumes published over the next several decades, of stories selected by ‘the godfather of CanLit’, Robert Weaver. When he died at the age of 87 in 2008, it was said of him that he was the best friend that the Canadian short story ever had.

I picked up the book at a library book sale for $1. It is a small little hardcover, a lovely size to hold in one hand. I have to push my glasses off to read it, holding it myopically close to my face. The font is small and closely packed, the pages thin. Paper must have been more expensive back in 1960. The binding has pulled away from the spine, but the pages are still holding together tightly.

Most of these stories were written in the first half of the last century, so struggles against nature, poverty, rigid societal conventions and the Church are prominent. "Freezing to death in a blizzard" happens in two stories -- I can't imagine that plot device appearing in a contemporary Canadian short story. But Sinclair Ross's The Painted Door did have a good twist right at the end.

My favourite was Ethel Wilson's story of Mrs Golightly . Set in the 50s, the story starts in Vancouver. An introverted and shy wife dreads accompanying her extroverted husband to a convention. The social pressures of conformity were so intense. Just what is the right type of feather and style of a woman’s hat, that won’t provoke the disdain of other wives?

Published in 1960, the youngest authors are still up-and-coming -- Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, Mordecai Richler. It's like looking at old photographs; you can't help but think of all that has come afterward since that picture was taken, and oh how things have changed.

It is a historical artifact of another era. ( )