Copyright © 1990 by W. D. Valgardson
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Douglas & McIntyre
1615 Venables Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V5L 2H1
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Valgardson, W. D.
What can’t be changed shouldn’t be mourned
ISBN 0-88894-689-9
I. Title.
PS8593.A53W 1990 C813’.54 C90-091068-2
Design by Verna Wong
Cover photograph by Doane Gregory
Typeset by The Typeworks
Printed and bound in Canada by D. W. Friesen & Sons Ltd.
Printed on acid-free paper
All of the characters and experiences depicted in this book are fictional.
“A Matter of Balance” was the first prize winner in the CBC annual literary competition and was broadcast on CBC Radio. “The Cave” was first published in Border Crossings, “Snow” in The Malahat Review, “Identities” in Canadian Short Fiction Anthology Vol. 2, “The Couch” in The Saturday Evening Post, “Saturday Climbing” in Chatelaine and Rainshadow: Stories from Vancouver Island, “Waiting” in Lorberg-Heimskringla.