Avalanche : stories / Jessica Westhead.

Includes bibliographical references.

This is the way -- How we challenge ourselves -- Something fun to do on a beautiful day -- The meeting -- Swimming lessons -- A warm and lighthearted feeling -- Gary how does a contact form work do I just type in here and then press send and that's it? -- Mister Elephant -- Avalanche -- Pioneers -- Moments with Mustafa -- Out for a walk -- Majesty -- Cheryl, are you okay?

"A middle-class, white-Canadian echo of The White Lotus, the stories in Avalanche combine satire with an earnest examination and indictment of white entitlement, guilt, shame, and disorientation in the wake of "waking up" to the reality of racism. Focusing on the perspective of white, cis, straight, mostly middle-aged and middle-class characters who lack self-awareness, Westhead shines a light on the obliviousness of white privilege, the violence of "polite" and "quiet" racism, the anguished flailing of the newly woke, and the desperation of well-intentioned white ladies to confirm their essential goodness at all costs. In a tone that "calls in" rather than "calling out," the author writes with compassion and empathy for both her frustrating and frustrated white protagonists and the racialized characters who encounter them. Westhead uses humour not to comfortably distance white readers from the harmful behaviour of her self-absorbed protagonists, but to pull them in close to recognize--and reckon with--those familiar parts of themselves, and to become more aware of the insidious systems of white supremacy at work behind the scenes."-- Provided by publisher.