My mother read this in the early 90s, not long after it came out, and recommended it to me. It's just now, six years after her death, that I've read it.
 I can see why she thought I would like it. Amid Proulx's dazzling, inventive prose is a simple story of a man coming to terms with life, his career, fatherhood, and love. There are no explosions of earth shaking drama, just thought, hard work and acceptance.
 If you wanted high drama but don't find it in The Shipping News that's OK; the descriptions of Newfoundland and its colorful characters are enough.