Ellen Gilchrist: Collected Stories [Hardcover]

Ellen Gilchrist (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2000

For the first time, a compilation of Ellen Gilchrist's best & best-loved short stories, selected by the author herself from her fifteen previous works of fiction. With the publication of 1983's The Annunciation, Ellen Gilchrist established herself as a teller of charming, bittersweet tales of the modern South. Since then, her works of fiction - sixteen in all - have built up a solid base of dedicated fans. With her uncanny insights into human character & the bittersweet complications of love, Ellen Gilchrist occupies a unique place in American fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gilchrist's celebrated writing life began with a book of short stories, In the Land of the Dreamy Dreams (1984), and her second collection, Vic tory over Japan, won the 1985 National Book Award. She has switched back and forth between novels and short stories ever since, and her dulcet yet tensile voice has become an integral part of American literature. Gilchrist has now selected 34 of her favorite stories from seven collections to create a potent and pleasingly cohesive volume that showcases her deep sense of place and, the most salient feature of her work, her lusty, unpredictable, and unapologetic heroines. Gilchrist's women have refused to be contained within single stories. No matter how often she finds someone new to write about, and how far away she moves from the settings she knows best, and which she so affectionately yet critically portrays, such as Fayetteville, Arkansas, and New Orleans, her feisty and outspoken heroines track her down and insist on continuing their lives. Here, readers first meet the fearless and competitive Rhoda Katherine Manning as an ambitious third-grader and follow her through an elegant adulthood of extravagant gestures and determined independence. Nora Jane Whittington, a self-declared anarchist, leaves New Orleans for San Francisco, where she wins the adoration of the heroic Freddy Harwood, learns all about earthquakes, and becomes the mother of twin girls. And then there's Miss Crystal and her sharp-eyed maid, Traceleen. In each intriguing tale, Gilchrist brilliantly illuminates some quirky aspect of human nature, whether it's the territorial instinct at work in a snooty tennis club, the need for poetry and music, marital friction, the complexities of race, or the mysteries of love, all the while granting readers the boon of her humor, wisdom, and beautifully crafted prose. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Prime cuts of choice prose." -- Kirkus Reviews, 10/1/00

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (December 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316299480
• ISBN-13: 978-0316299480
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.8 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,473,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Southern Women, May 18, 2005

By 

Melanie Eddolls "Melanie Eddolls" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ellen Gilchrist: Collected Stories (Paperback)

The characters in her fiction are rich, complex, redeemed and willful. Nora is brave as she faces her pregnancy alone and gives birth to twins virtually on her own, Miss Crystal is a loveable and willful alcoholic who is much more than her behavior illustrates, Freddy is a hopeless and loyal romantic, and Traceleen is my personal favorite with narrations that are vivid and heart-warming. These southern ladies are innovative, eccentric, in pursuit of love and on the rebound from past loves. They are survivors and embody all that makes the South such an interesting place to live. In the vein of Eudora Welty, Gilchrist is a fresh and inspiring voice.