The thing with Canadian national treasures is—okay, we really don't have a good literary tradition. Ondaatje is good, as is Mistry, but what's good about them is that they're bringing other literary traditions here. Ditto with most of the up-and-coming young authors I like. And there's always been good stuff out of Québec.

But English Canadian canon? Is crap. Like the Group of Seven, it only gets studied because it's Canadian. Even Atwood is really hit and miss, in my extremely unpopular opinion. For some reason Canadian literary types think that cold, distant writing about boring characters leading sad lives is really deep. And the longer the story/novel, the more Important and Literary it is.

Munro to me represents the worst of that tradition.