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Title: Shields is terrific!
Review: The first Carol Shields book I read was "The Stone Diaries" which of course deserved all its awards. Then "Larry's Party" which, though it was somewhat ignored by the literary press, was every bit as enjoyable as "Diaries." By then I had realized that Shields is one of our greatest living novelists. I picked up "Small Ceremonies" knowing it was nearly 25 years old -- her first published novel -- and expecting it to be less than those two later books. I was wrong. "Small Ceremonies" is simply a terrific book. Buy it. Read it.
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