“At 84, Canada’s great expatriate writer Mavis Gallant complains that the body doesn’t move nearly as fast as the mind, but in person she is still like quicksilver — sly, fast and unpredictable… She carries into every encounter a reputation of ruthlessness, of one who doesn’t suffer fools at all — gladly or otherwise. But she chuckles at the idea that she could intimidate anyone and comes off as open and generous.”