Victory Over Japan

by Ellen Gilchrist

Winner of the 1984 American Book Award for Fiction, thislightful, if eccentric, selection of short stories. "The stories are wonderful to tell aloud . . . Miss Gilchrist once again demonstrates not only her willingness to take risks, but her generosity as a writer as well."--The New York Times Book Review.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Southern, Literature, Literary Fiction, 20th Century, Classics

277 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

A writer of poems, short stories, novels, and nonfiction commentaries, Ellen Gilchrist is a diverse writer whom critics have praised repeatedly for her subtle perceptions, unique characters, and sure command of the writer’s voice, as well as her innovative plotlines set in her native Mississippi.

As Sabine Durrant commented in the London Times, her writing “swings between the familiar and the shocking, the everyday and the traumatic.... She writes about ordinary happenings in out of the way places, of meetings between recognizable characters from her other fiction and strangers, above all of domestic routine disrupted by violence.” The world of her fiction is awry; the surprise ending, although characteristic of her works, can still shock the reader. “It is disorienting stuff,” noted Durrant, “but controlled always by Gilchrist’s wry tone and gentle insight.”

She earned her B.A. from Millsaps College in 1967, and later did postgraduate study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

She has worked as an author and journalist, as a contributing editor for the Vieux Carre Courier from 1976-1979, and as a commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 1984-1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book Falling Through Space.

She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.

Reviews

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me last summer by a former teacher who is also an Episcopalian minister. In December, I entered a "Secret Santa" drawing involving alumni of my alma mater (Grinnell College whaaaaat) and, per statistical probability, drew a woman I'd never met (Which is a good thing! This is why we do this in the first place, to meet other alumni/ae we don't know, and make great connections while impressing them!)

Anyway, she described herself as a "book slut", which is great, because so am I, and I decided to go with a New Orleans theme for my package (that's where I live). Ellen Gilchrist seemed an obvious and safe choice (again, recommended by a former teacher/minister who compared her to Tolstoy). So I threw "Victory Over Japan" in a shoebox alongside a wireframe saxophone from the French Market, a fancy postcard, and a gospel/blues album.

A few months after I shipped this collection off to aforementioned stranger (and mother of two), I read it myself. Oh man. I've certainly read worse and I probably wouldn't have been struck by it if I'd been in a vacuum, so to speak, but somewhere between the old southern woman graphically masturbating to Tom Selleck and the incestuous, drug fueled, menage a trois, I sat bolt upright and announced "I SENT THIS TO A COMPLETE STRANGER. FOR A CHRISTMAS PRESENT."

So, don't send this to anyone you don't know for a Christmas gift, but you should read it for yourself if you want to laugh out loud a lot. The Traceleen chapters are wonderful (and not as offensive as I'd been worried they would be), and Rhoda is a knockout--the title story may be the best in the collection. It's Philip Roth meets Flannery O'Connor.

Hit 'em with a mountain!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a war book!

I'm ashamed to say I only now am discovering Ellen Gilchrist, one of America's best authors, certainly of short stories.
These stories must have been written in the seventies or early eighties, they were acclaimed upon publication, and deservedly so. That said, they are more fun than profound. Gilchrist writes about rich southern women who are "empowered" in a way that today's kick-boxing heroines might well look into. These ladies drink, smoke, diet and have sex as much as they want. All of the stories seem to be related, albeit loosely, and even though few of them have anything that could be described as a "plot" they are the kind of stories people who demand "a beginning, a middle, and an end" will enjoy so much they won't even notice that these three requirements hardly exist. It is all about characters. You have to think, nobody could make up people like this. And then you have to wonder, did she?

Get the book. Pour yourself a glass of wine. Enjoy.

[Larry Bassett · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should not trust an author with “christ” in her name. That’s what I think.

I was going to say that Victory Over Japan is a weird book but what is really weird is that this is December 7th. What do you think of that? Maybe I will just quote a paragraph and let you decide for yourself what you think. Here goes.

A miracle, the sisters at the Academy of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus would have said. Chemistry, Maurice would say. Energy, Mirium Sallisaw would declare. This particular miraculous energetic piece of chemistry had split into two identical parts and they were attached now to the lining of Nora Jane’s womb, side by side, the size of snow peas, sending out for what they needed, water and pizza and sleep, rooms without smoke or bacon grease.

Now imagine a whole book – 277 pages – of that. You have to imagine it because you haven’t read it. I have read it and it makes me smile. In a sort of sardonic (disdainfully or cynically mocking) way. Yes, two hundred pages would have probably been enough for me.

Maybe I should call the book ribald. No, but maybe raucous. But definitely a little too much of a good thing. I am happy to move on to something else.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is misleading. Victory Over Japan has nothing to do with Japan. It is not about slapstick G.I. hijinks in Occupied Japan, it’s not about the gruesome Pacific Island campaign, it’s not about the incendiary bombing of greater Tokyo or the horror of the A-bomb (although the A-bomb does make a brief appearance in the first story). Instead, a collection of spoiled/flawed characters from upper class families struggle their way across parts of the American south and west of the forties, fifties and sixties. These characters are girls or women in broken families, second marriages or bad relationships, with confused, failed or abusive boyfriends, husbands or brothers, wealthy, unloving fathers and mothers, and sad, spoiled, unloved children. They get falling down drunk, go on road trips, bum cigarettes, fight with their fathers and mothers, sleep with insurance salesmen, and are generally confused, angry and want to have fun. The writing is solid though the style is dated. Starts slow, but picks up quickly and ends with quite an adventure.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written, entertaining short story collection, in four parts. The memorable characters are well developed and are all in search of some satisfaction. Unexpected events happen regularly! Each part mainly focuses on a particularly strong Southern American female character. The first part is about Rhonda, firstly as a young girl reporting for a young adult magazine on a shy boy who has to have needle injections every day for 14 days to prevent rabies, the second story is when Rhonda is a wilful teenager intent on losing her virginity and the third story Rhonda is 34 year old divorcee with declining fortunes.

I particularly enjoyed the third part which is about Nora Jane, a young beautiful woman who is quite independent and spontaneous in her decisions and actions. Nora Jane reminded by of Truman Copote’s ‘Holly Golightly’.

The fourth part is about Crystal, a ruthless, wilful woman who partners rich men, then runs roughshod over them!

Here is an example of the author’s writing style:
“All you have to do to educate a child is leave him alone and teach him to read. The rest is brainwashing.’
‘We live at the level of our language.’
‘Maybe I only think everyone wants to be a writer because the friends I naturally choose are people who love books. People who love books sooner or later dream of writing them. It’s a natural response to stimuli.’

Winner of the 1984 National Book Award.

[Hatseflats · Rating 4 out of 5]

This National Book Award short story collection was a great way for me to dip my toe into the pool of work by the very prolific - and now deceased - Ellen Gilchrist. This writer is great at capturing voice in her character's dialogue. A great array of eccentric characters, almost all of them Southern. A shout-out to Booktuber Daniel from the Guilty Feat YouTube channel for his vlog dedicated to Ellen Gilchrist which was my introduction to this wonderful writer.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a discovery. I came across Gilchrist's work in an anthology a couple months ago. I really liked her writing and decided to check this book out, and I am glad I did. These stories are unlike any I have read - wild and magical. Most are set in New Orleans, most are about women breaking free, or trying to break free, from prescribed roles, but there's an improvisatory anything-goes style to her storytelling that kept me shaking my head in wonder. You see that cover image, of a woman quietly lying in bed with a cat? The book is nothing like that! None of these characters would be caught dead lying in a bed with a cat. That's not how Gilchrist's world works. As the title of one of her stories says: "Crazy, crazy, now showing everywhere."

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like what it’s like to be a southern woman in the summer. Cant wait for more

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

He touched a book on his desk. Tropic of Cancer, it said on the dustjacket. Inside was a dictionary.

The above made me laugh - Defender of the Little Falaya was probably my favourite story here, although it was a little unlike Gilchrist's other stories, centered on driftless Southern women. Aside from the humour of the stories there wasn't a lot for me to take to, as they're all a bit too similar. The curious charm of the early Rhoda stories wears off by the third, when Gilchrist's style, which I assumed reflected the narrator's youth, became more general, and a little less interesting. Supposedly Gilchrist is very much in the tradition of Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty, so I'll be sure to add those authors to the list.

[Mike Zickar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful set of stories by an author that I had never read before. It might be a cliché to compare Gilchrist to Flannery O'Connor but these stories share a lot in common with some of O'Connor's best work: Dark, often unexpected things happen to people in delightful settings mostly in the South.

Several of these stories are nested together, with a central character across 3 or 4 stories, done in a very interesting way. I'd give the collection a total of 5 stars, except I felt that the last sequence was a bit more scattered than the earlier ones.

I am excited to have found a new author. . .

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A belle in bed, most likely suffering from a deep chemical depression, is lost in thought while her companion, a black cat, pokes its head through the cloud of comforters and fixes with stern gaze the reader, the holder. That's the cover. That's what that is. ...

Where Lorrie Moore charts the trajectory of college educated Midwesterners and Bobbie Ann Mason traces the comings and goings of middle class and povertyline Southerners, Gilchrist notes the downward spiral of Southern girls whose beehive hairdos are coming undone. Are whipping in the wind. Are a Tasmanian Devil frenzy both inside and out, and their families don't seem to be much help. No. They don't seem to be much help at all.

They're plantation aristocrats and traveled poets. That's what I'm saying about these families. What I'm saying is, they got deep pockets and they got romantic rhymes, but the only solution they see to the eccentric flailings of their manic-depressive cousins is to share the latest pills and wash it all down with booze from the minibar. Here's to you. No. Here's to us. Or hand these dystopian debutantes over into the care of doctors who walk around the hospital with a ring of keys and an armed guard more often, more and more often, than with a clipboard and a nurse.

Mmmm-hmmmmm.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best known of Gilchrist's work and the winner of the American Book Award, Victory Over Japan is a collection of stories populated by such over-the-top, laugh-out-loud stereotypes of Southerners that it runs the risk of being cartoonish - but Gilchrist pulls it off masterfully. She subtly and slyly pokes fun at what she knows best, but at the same time you see her admiration and love for the culture she was raised in. It is in this collection that we first meet Rhoda Manning, Gilchrist's alter-ego and best-loved character. Fans of Gilchrist's work feel very close to Rhoda - she is insufferable, selfish, irritating and reckless...but she is also full of passion and joi de vivre. Much like Gilchrist's writing, which uses staccato sentences and Faulkner-esque descriptions to illustrate a world within a world, the American South.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her voice was rising. “Traceleen, are you listening? Can you hear me? This is everything I know about love I’m telling you. Everything I know about everything.”

Funny and sad, cheeky, readable; you can’t keep a Southern woman down. These are just the kind of short stories I like: whip-smart and surprising. My interest often waxes and wanes with short story collections, but that was not the case here. I read eagerly. I particularly liked Ellen Gilchrist’s technique of series of short stories about the same protagonist/narrator (Nora Jane is a favorite, as well as the cycle of stories from Traceleen about Miss Crystal). Gilchrist found what worked for her and went for it, stylistic guns ablaze. Very enjoyable.

[Crisandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would give a 4.5

I love the author's style of writing that it makes me laugh in most parts! I thought it was a war book but it wasn't. The book is about women who do not succumb to society's standards. I enjoyed reading although I got confused on some parts because it was a compilation of stories and not a novel.

[Richard Jespers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these stories, particularly the early ones. The later ones were difficult to follow (sometimes too many characters, which may be my problem). Gilchrist is a very courageous writer, getting inside a wide variety of characters.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, oddball stories with some memorable characters & scenes. Enjoyed it.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akin to bouncing a knobby rubber ball - you don't know where it's going. But very interesting and quirky.

[Old Man JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories, most of them have the same recurring characters. The stories are a little kinky and off-beat and deal mostly with womens sexuality.

[Rasmus Tillander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vaikeita naisia ja Americanaa.

Paratiisin pilvinen reuna (alk. Victory Over Japan) on yksi Otavan kirjaston unholaan vaipuneista kirjoista. Näin tuntuu usein käyvän novellikokoelmille vaikka tämäkin voitti National Book Awardin vuonna 1984. Eikä aivan syyttä!

Gilchrist kertoo novelleissaan kulmikkaiden, hankalien, epävakavaiden, mutta kiinnostavien naisten elämästä eri puolilla Yhdysvaltoja. Kaikki tarinat eivät ole täyttä timanttia mutta joukossa on kyllä helmiä.

Parasta antia olivat ensimmäisen osan Rhoda-tarinat ovat vangitseva kuvaus nuoresta rikkaan perheen kapinallisesta tytöstä. Hemmoteltu, mutta tietyllä charmantilla tavalla ilkukurinen hahmo!

Toinen osa on hieman epätasaisempi, mutta sen huumehouruiset tarinat "Paratiisin pilvinen reuna" ja "Little Falayan puolustaja" olivat iskeviä ahdistavassa horkassaan. "Pähkähullu, nyt sen kaikki näkee" soittelee samoilla nuoteilla, mutta käsittelee mielenterveysongelmia.

Kolmannen osan tarinat San Fransiscoon päätyvästä ongelmarikkaasta Nora Janesta ja päätösosan kertomukset epävakaasta Crystalista eivät nouseet ihan niin kovalle tasolle, mutta niissäkin oli ehdottomasti hetkensä.
Gilchrist käy välillä realismin rajoilla, mutta onnistuu taidokkaasti yhdistämään traagisuuteen veikeyttä menemättä absurdin puolelle. Se, että kirjailijan otteessa säilyy aiheista huolimatta tietty kepeys tekee tarinoista sangen vetäviä luettavaa.

Kunnollinen neljän tähden novellikokoelma.

[Natalie Serber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reread this collection for a podcast I participated in. We were discussing a book that had a large affect on one's life. I read Gilchrist when I was a young woman, in college, and the discovery was liberating and inspiring. Her characters, largely women, make no apologies for their appetites, they make mistakes and suffer consequences but their lives are not ruined like Anna Karenina, or Emma Bovary. They do not die or suffer ostracism. They are allowed to be human. Also, the writing is playful, time is fluid, language is exciting. The book is not perfect of course. It is a product of its time, the 70s in the South. There is blatant racism and anti-semitism that is not commented upon and that is troubling. Also, there is a very powerful and intelligent black character, Traceleen, who runs circles around the privileged white women in her world. Honestly, at times the book was difficult. I reread it as an exploration to see what was meaningful to me at 20, and to see how much (both a lot and nothing) has changed.

[Jason Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was honestly not what I was expecting with a title like "Victory Over Japan," which quickly becomes the point. This set of stories provides a worldview steeped in the 70s and 80s. What was coded as funny or madcap back then comes off as a set of terrible events with hardly any consequences. Stores are robbed, women become pregnant, cars are crashed, folks are roofied, people are robbed in their hotel rooms, and everything ends up OK.
There is a spirit of wastrel buffoonery that probably worked as a way to empower women in a post-feminist world. Personally, it didn't work for me. I especially disliked the ham-handed attempts at racial patois in the final stories narrated by the family maid. The use of dialect was spotty at best, heavy at the onset and slowly disappearing as the story continues, only to reappear in cringe worthy segments. I hope that this is the result of a white creative writing professor bouncing a draft off of other white academics. I hope that no black student was put on point to read and comment.

[Nancy Groves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of wit and dark, Southern Gothic humor, these stories mostly feature girls and women having trouble with men, mothers, and money, not to mention too much booze and drugs. But somehow you get the impression they might just come out on top, in some form or fashion. Although set in the South, black characters are mostly relegated to the background. In the one set of linked stories narrated by a black woman, she's a maid, describing the craziness of her employer, yet remaining in her job because she's been forced to all but take over the parental responsibilities for the woman's young daughter. The book was published in 1983, and the stories seem to take place in that era, so perhaps my surprise at this stereotypical plot device arises from reading it 35 years later. I assume Gilchrist was writing from what she had observed and had known loose cannons like Crystal and put-upon women like Traceleen watching them with a mixture of dread and occasional admiration.

[Eamonn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never read any of Ellen Gilchrists books before this. It's a collection of short stories divided into four sections, each featuring a different female character. All four characters are from the southern states which might suggest a comparison with Flannery O'Connor, but in fact the stories reminded me of Raymond Carver almost as much, particularly the unique, slightly odd, main characters, who range in age from (pre) teen to middle age, and are not like anyone I've ever met. Well worth reading.

[Judi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had this book on my shelf for over 20 years, and I probably should have just left it there. I’ve lived in the South too long to find the stereotypes of Southern women either amusing or accurate. Yes, Gilchrist can write some mighty interesting characters, but I’m glad I never had to meet them.

Two observations: 1. Men seem to like this book more than women. I have my theories about that. 2. One wouldn’t stop by a gift shop in Gulf Shores on the way to the Pensacola Airport if one were staying at a house on the Florida-Alabama line.

[Lyndy Berryhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was very enjoyable to read. I love that Gilchrist draws upon her studies and interactions with Eudora Welty to create an inner world of characters, who are all related. She writes effortlessly, at times, hilariously. Her characters are outrageous, unsatisfied and competitive, but wholly lovable. This had led me to read several other collections of her short stories and I have not been disappointed.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A re-read after many decades. Her characters - crazy, impulsive, determined - are vividly drawn, even if an afternoon with them in real life would have left me, an introvert, totally exhausted. And meanwhile, Traceleen, the black maid, teeters on the brink of stereotype except that, like every other character, she is entirely believable as she narrates the ups and downs of Crystal and her family. Whew!

[Kami · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written by a woman who lives in the same town as me. A book of short stories featuring female main characters. I enjoyed this, honestly, although I didn’t expect to with the somewhat sexual themes. Each story focuses on some dramatic event. It’s funny how we normalize things, but when you look at the stories here I can see each and every one being real. But they are so crazy!

[Eibhlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first encounter with Ellen Gilchrist and will definitely read more of her work - smart, extremely well written short stories with a streak of dark humour. Quirky characters and some lovely observations on life in the Southern US. I particularly liked the set of stories narrated by Traceleen about 'Miss Crystal'.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. I liked the titular story and some of the characterization in the others, but overall I'm bored. I put it down and have no desire to pick it up. I might try again in the future but I'm not sure if it's the book or if I'm not into short stories at the moment. 1 star for me here means I did not finish because there's no other way to denote that.

[Stefanni Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of this author, but recently read a review that made me look for it. I’m so glad I did. The short stories are so very Southern in language, subject, and style. My favorite story was the first one in the book—“Victory Over Japan.” All of the stories were delightful. People are ridiculous and this author makes that crystal clear.