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Acts of God
In her first story collection in over eight years, National Book Award winner Ellen Gilchrist presents readers with ten different scenarios in which people dealing with forces beyond their control somehow manage to survive, persevere, and triumph, even if it is only a triumph of the will. From the very young to the very old, in one way or another, they are fighters and believers, survivors who find the strength to go on when faced with the truth of their mortality. And they are given vivid life in these stories told with Ellen Gilchrist’s clear-eyed optimism and salty sense of humor.
“Reading Ellen Gilchrist is addictive . . . Her new work is filled with good people who show fortitude and even heroism under duress . . . In this age of edgy irony, her warm-hearted view of humanity is refreshing.” —NPR.org
“Gilchrist manages to cut through the loud tussle of the world to present truths made even more striking by how conventional they are . . . The stories in Acts of God are great postcards from the world of Ellen Gilchrist. It’s a world of war and strife and surprises, and it is, yes, marvelous to behold.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Refreshing, engaging, and inspiring.” —Library Journal
“Beautiful, smart, phenomenally rich.”—Booklist, starred review
“Gilchrist is at her best when the wry and satirical mood strikes her, especially when she is pricking the balloons of pride that the white Southern upper middle class inflates in its own honor . . . The best of the stories in Acts of God rank with the best in her first collection and in her second, Victory Over Japan, for which she was awarded a richly deserved National Book Award.” —The Washington Post
“The salty wit of [her] characters will make you laugh; their bravery can be breathtaking.”—Birmingham magazine
“Reading Ellen Gilchrist is addictive . . . Her new work is filled with good people who show fortitude and even heroism under duress . . . In this age of edgy irony, her warm-hearted view of humanity is refreshing.” —NPR.org
“Gilchrist manages to cut through the loud tussle of the world to present truths made even more striking by how conventional they are . . . The stories in Acts of God are great postcards from the world of Ellen Gilchrist. It’s a world of war and strife and surprises, and it is, yes, marvelous to behold.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Refreshing, engaging, and inspiring.” —Library Journal
“Beautiful, smart, phenomenally rich.”—Booklist, starred review
“Gilchrist is at her best when the wry and satirical mood strikes her, especially when she is pricking the balloons of pride that the white Southern upper middle class inflates in its own honor . . . The best of the stories in Acts of God rank with the best in her first collection and in her second, Victory Over Japan, for which she was awarded a richly deserved National Book Award.” —The Washington Post
“The salty wit of [her] characters will make you laugh; their bravery can be breathtaking.”—Birmingham magazine
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2014
106 people are currently reading
433 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Gilchrist
70 books261 followers 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.
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.
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June 8, 2024The Greatest 25 Short Stories of All Time According to Forbes - #21: https://www.forbes.com/sites/entertai...
July 15, 2014
*Minor Spoilers*
I hate to give this one a middling review. I've been a fan of Ellen Gilchrist for years, and was so excited to come across a new collection, but it seemed like these stories were rushed through and not given the level of care and attention to detail that I've so admired in her other books.
Some of the 'too-happy' endings were irksome, like the story where the young widow who is struggling financially - of course - is brought together with the too good to be true (and also rich) single father because a child made a wish. The guy proposes to her within six weeks and they live happily ever after (perhaps that one especially bothers me because my own experience of accepting a six-week proposal ended in four years of misery and a restraining order that had to be renewed -twice).
Also, there were editorial inconsistencies. One story that comes to mind mentioned a character, a young girl aged four 'who would eat chocolate pudding all day' if her mother let her - a few pages later, the same character is mentioned as her mother worries about her because she's in second grade and not yet reading. An oversight that could be easily overlooked, yes, but together with stories that were so much less complicated and more easily resolved than those I've come to love made me feel this collection is not her best work.
If you're new to Ellen Gilchrist's work, don't let this book discourage you from reading more. Maybe she rushed to get this one out, or maybe she was working with an inexperienced editor or a publisher who was pushing her toward more mainstream appeal? Either way, I'm looking forward to her next collection and hope it rocks as much as the stories I've read before.
I hate to give this one a middling review. I've been a fan of Ellen Gilchrist for years, and was so excited to come across a new collection, but it seemed like these stories were rushed through and not given the level of care and attention to detail that I've so admired in her other books.
Some of the 'too-happy' endings were irksome, like the story where the young widow who is struggling financially - of course - is brought together with the too good to be true (and also rich) single father because a child made a wish. The guy proposes to her within six weeks and they live happily ever after (perhaps that one especially bothers me because my own experience of accepting a six-week proposal ended in four years of misery and a restraining order that had to be renewed -twice).
Also, there were editorial inconsistencies. One story that comes to mind mentioned a character, a young girl aged four 'who would eat chocolate pudding all day' if her mother let her - a few pages later, the same character is mentioned as her mother worries about her because she's in second grade and not yet reading. An oversight that could be easily overlooked, yes, but together with stories that were so much less complicated and more easily resolved than those I've come to love made me feel this collection is not her best work.
If you're new to Ellen Gilchrist's work, don't let this book discourage you from reading more. Maybe she rushed to get this one out, or maybe she was working with an inexperienced editor or a publisher who was pushing her toward more mainstream appeal? Either way, I'm looking forward to her next collection and hope it rocks as much as the stories I've read before.
February 16, 2014
I received an advance copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was first exposed to Ellen Gilchrist to her book about writing, a book that is more of a memoir. From that, I learned that she came late to writing, has always put her family before her career, and that she is a southerner through and through.
These things all come through in her stories. I'd like to read some of her earlier work to compare, because these stories definitely have a feeling of someone ruminating about life and death and family from the vantage point of having already lived through it.
Each story spins around a death or disaster - flood, suicide, car accident, tornado, hurricane (making the book title Acts of God very clear) - and by the end everything is okay and the living have learned important life lessons. To me, stories like this are just one step up from the Chicken Soup for the Soup type, which makes me suspect I am not Gilchrist's usual audience. But then I stop myself and remind my head that she won the National Book Award at one point. I definitely need a point of comparison.
All of the stories are set in the south, except one that is set at the London Heathrow Airport, featuring southerners. All the characters feel older, despite some of them being given younger ages, they always felt like they were in their 50s and 60s.
I was first exposed to Ellen Gilchrist to her book about writing, a book that is more of a memoir. From that, I learned that she came late to writing, has always put her family before her career, and that she is a southerner through and through.
These things all come through in her stories. I'd like to read some of her earlier work to compare, because these stories definitely have a feeling of someone ruminating about life and death and family from the vantage point of having already lived through it.
Each story spins around a death or disaster - flood, suicide, car accident, tornado, hurricane (making the book title Acts of God very clear) - and by the end everything is okay and the living have learned important life lessons. To me, stories like this are just one step up from the Chicken Soup for the Soup type, which makes me suspect I am not Gilchrist's usual audience. But then I stop myself and remind my head that she won the National Book Award at one point. I definitely need a point of comparison.
All of the stories are set in the south, except one that is set at the London Heathrow Airport, featuring southerners. All the characters feel older, despite some of them being given younger ages, they always felt like they were in their 50s and 60s.
June 8, 2015
I am a huge fan of Ellen Gilchrist, and I am a sucker for a collection of her finely crafted short stories. "Acts of God," however, was no "Victory Over Japan" (one of her best collections). The stories in "Acts of God" are too "all ends well." And, Gilchrist's exceedingly well-to-do, athletic, well-positioned, beautiful, white, rich Southerners come off as overly optimistic because -well - who wouldn't be if you had all that damn privilege...
There are some lovely lines in the work, and I love to see what familiar characters are up to - Rhoda and Louise in these stories. There, overall, was a grit and honesty that was lacking in this collection. Having said that, I love Gilchrist's prose and willful women characters; so, although this collection is a one star for Gilchrist, it is still a three star work because Gilchrist is a master short story writer who respects and likes her reader. Gilchrist's fond feelings about sharing the beauty of literary exchanges between writer and reader show through in her good writing time and time again.
There are some lovely lines in the work, and I love to see what familiar characters are up to - Rhoda and Louise in these stories. There, overall, was a grit and honesty that was lacking in this collection. Having said that, I love Gilchrist's prose and willful women characters; so, although this collection is a one star for Gilchrist, it is still a three star work because Gilchrist is a master short story writer who respects and likes her reader. Gilchrist's fond feelings about sharing the beauty of literary exchanges between writer and reader show through in her good writing time and time again.
November 20, 2017
Meh. I've read many Gilchrist books and enjoyed them, but it's been years and I have to wonder if my tastes have changed. I quickly remembered her way of writing, which I can't decide if I like or not; sometimes it's nice to read details that aren't always plot-driven; they are just kind of a "slice of life". On the other hand, sometimes it comes across as tedious to me.
Most of the characters irritated me; they all seemed pretty well-to-do and whiny.
Most of the characters irritated me; they all seemed pretty well-to-do and whiny.
January 15, 2024
In this collection of short stories, Gilchrist deals with people dealing with extreme events – theorist attacks, hurricanes, terminal illness and the effects of old age. Some of our old friends from Gilchrist’s oeuvre show up in these stories, but mostly they are new characters dealing with extreme life-changing events. As usual, Gilchrist portrays her characters ith humor, humanity and a certain Southern charm.
February 6, 2024
This is def. not the strongest collection by Gilchrist, and these stories appear to have not been edited (there are some jarring continuity errors - that would have been easy to correct had anyone looked over these stories.)
HOWEVER…I’m just delighted to have been able to spend a little more time with one of my favorite writers, and a few of my favorite characters (oh Rhoda Manning, I do so enjoy you) so I’m just going to appreciate and savor that.
HOWEVER…I’m just delighted to have been able to spend a little more time with one of my favorite writers, and a few of my favorite characters (oh Rhoda Manning, I do so enjoy you) so I’m just going to appreciate and savor that.
August 28, 2015
Acts of God
I’m not going to start off with the pretense that this is an unbiased review. I have long thought Gilchrist to be one of the most talented writers of the second pantheon of Southern writers. (She is temporally post-Faulknerian, and was, in fact, a student of Welty's at Milsaps College.) She arrived alongside the likes of Willie Morris, James Dickey, Walker Percy, Shelby Foote, and Barry Hannah and she more than held her own, she thrived. She avoided the pitfalls of success that hobbled so many of her contemporaries and her writing grew in depth and complexity. She won The American Book Award for Victory Over Japan, but that wasn’t my favorite of her books. To me the high water mark came early. In the Land of Dreamy Dreams was so very intense in terms of language and theme that I found it to be the standard for the modern short story, in many ways.
Gilchrist has written in every form, poetry first, short stories, novels, and memoirs are all in her oeuvre, and she is good at them all. But it is the short story that is her strong suit. In this collection she is back in top form. Is it as good as Victory over Japan? I have to say yes. Is it as good as In The Land of Dreamy Dreams? I have to say, perhaps. It is different, it is written by a more mature author in a different time in the world, but it is an analysis of that world that is every bit as sharp and every bit as spot on as In The Land of Dreamy Dreams was when it was written.
I got to cheat on this book quite a bit, we were able to publish Toccata and Fugue in D Minor in the first issue of China Grove and I knew when I first read it that it was Gilchrist at her best. Brave, incisive, and hopeful facing a world plagued by the faces of terror. I got to spend time with her and heard the descriptions of the stories in this collection during our interview that came out in that same issue and then again at the Welty festival at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS. So, I knew what the stories in this collection were about, I just wasn’t sure how she’d write them.
Last night, lying in bed next to my wife, I had just finished reading Collateral.
“My God, she did that just right,” I said. “The way she finished that story. I didn’t know exactly where she was going with this, I just wasn’t seeing it, but she finished it perfectly.”
“I’m sure she was concerned you’d think so,” my wife replied smiling.
“What do you mean?”
“Ellen is how old?”
“She's in her seventies...”
“So, she is a seventy-plus year old woman, who has spent her whole adult life writing some of the most outstanding short stories in the English language. I’m sure she’s just sitting over there in Arkansas, worrying what you were going to say about Collateral. You should call her first thing in the morning. Right when you first wake up, to save her from worrying through another day.”
“I think I will.”
“I think you should.”
“Why do you think she wouldn’t care what I thought?”
“Because she knows more about writing than you know about reading. She has the voice in her head to tell her what’s true. She doesn’t need your voice on the phone.”
Later I read aloud to her from The Dogs.
“I can’t picture Ellen saying that,” I interjected.
“Because, she didn’t, Rhoda said it, the same Rhoda who went hunting with her daddy. It’s exactly what she would say.” My wife answered.
See, this is what I’m trying to get to, this collection is so crisp, it is so clear, it is so transparent that it fits in your life. These are people you know. This is an author who shows you a glimpse into a world that is different and old and modern and good and scary all at the same time and leaves you convinced that it’s worth it. And if we all are facing our own mortality, there is hope even in that.
Scott Anderson MD
Editor, China Grove
I’m not going to start off with the pretense that this is an unbiased review. I have long thought Gilchrist to be one of the most talented writers of the second pantheon of Southern writers. (She is temporally post-Faulknerian, and was, in fact, a student of Welty's at Milsaps College.) She arrived alongside the likes of Willie Morris, James Dickey, Walker Percy, Shelby Foote, and Barry Hannah and she more than held her own, she thrived. She avoided the pitfalls of success that hobbled so many of her contemporaries and her writing grew in depth and complexity. She won The American Book Award for Victory Over Japan, but that wasn’t my favorite of her books. To me the high water mark came early. In the Land of Dreamy Dreams was so very intense in terms of language and theme that I found it to be the standard for the modern short story, in many ways.
Gilchrist has written in every form, poetry first, short stories, novels, and memoirs are all in her oeuvre, and she is good at them all. But it is the short story that is her strong suit. In this collection she is back in top form. Is it as good as Victory over Japan? I have to say yes. Is it as good as In The Land of Dreamy Dreams? I have to say, perhaps. It is different, it is written by a more mature author in a different time in the world, but it is an analysis of that world that is every bit as sharp and every bit as spot on as In The Land of Dreamy Dreams was when it was written.
I got to cheat on this book quite a bit, we were able to publish Toccata and Fugue in D Minor in the first issue of China Grove and I knew when I first read it that it was Gilchrist at her best. Brave, incisive, and hopeful facing a world plagued by the faces of terror. I got to spend time with her and heard the descriptions of the stories in this collection during our interview that came out in that same issue and then again at the Welty festival at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS. So, I knew what the stories in this collection were about, I just wasn’t sure how she’d write them.
Last night, lying in bed next to my wife, I had just finished reading Collateral.
“My God, she did that just right,” I said. “The way she finished that story. I didn’t know exactly where she was going with this, I just wasn’t seeing it, but she finished it perfectly.”
“I’m sure she was concerned you’d think so,” my wife replied smiling.
“What do you mean?”
“Ellen is how old?”
“She's in her seventies...”
“So, she is a seventy-plus year old woman, who has spent her whole adult life writing some of the most outstanding short stories in the English language. I’m sure she’s just sitting over there in Arkansas, worrying what you were going to say about Collateral. You should call her first thing in the morning. Right when you first wake up, to save her from worrying through another day.”
“I think I will.”
“I think you should.”
“Why do you think she wouldn’t care what I thought?”
“Because she knows more about writing than you know about reading. She has the voice in her head to tell her what’s true. She doesn’t need your voice on the phone.”
Later I read aloud to her from The Dogs.
“I can’t picture Ellen saying that,” I interjected.
“Because, she didn’t, Rhoda said it, the same Rhoda who went hunting with her daddy. It’s exactly what she would say.” My wife answered.
See, this is what I’m trying to get to, this collection is so crisp, it is so clear, it is so transparent that it fits in your life. These are people you know. This is an author who shows you a glimpse into a world that is different and old and modern and good and scary all at the same time and leaves you convinced that it’s worth it. And if we all are facing our own mortality, there is hope even in that.
Scott Anderson MD
Editor, China Grove
June 24, 2014
I have been a fan of Ellen Gilchrist's for many years and when I saw this new collection of short stories, I was very much looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong. There are some great moments in Acts of God, but there are also stories that cover so much ground chronologically and don't envelop the reader because it seems as if the theme or the idea is more important than the characters' relationships to them.
Most of the stories are about upheaval or disasters and human reaction to them. Perhaps the best is the one in which a young woman who is in the Air National Guard is called to New Orleans to rescue people from roofs after Katrina. This is one of the few stories in which a virtuous act is not cushioned by selfishness or self-absorption, but one in which the character reacts to horrors and the small miracles and feels changed and is changed.
Perhaps a couple of the other stories ring true simply because the characters are materialistic and self-absorbed and view an extraordinary situation from the viewpoint of what they can get from it or what it will make them into. There is some heavy-handedness with what I consider to be preachiness and I am not certain that it's Gilchrist's intent for that to be unleashed upon the reader (because I am giving her the benefit of the doubt), but then again, it's been years since I have read any of her work and maybe what I once overlooked is now an elephant.
Most of the stories are about upheaval or disasters and human reaction to them. Perhaps the best is the one in which a young woman who is in the Air National Guard is called to New Orleans to rescue people from roofs after Katrina. This is one of the few stories in which a virtuous act is not cushioned by selfishness or self-absorption, but one in which the character reacts to horrors and the small miracles and feels changed and is changed.
Perhaps a couple of the other stories ring true simply because the characters are materialistic and self-absorbed and view an extraordinary situation from the viewpoint of what they can get from it or what it will make them into. There is some heavy-handedness with what I consider to be preachiness and I am not certain that it's Gilchrist's intent for that to be unleashed upon the reader (because I am giving her the benefit of the doubt), but then again, it's been years since I have read any of her work and maybe what I once overlooked is now an elephant.
June 26, 2014
Reading Ellen Gilchrist always makes me feel the same way, like being alive is about the best thing there ever was. Her recent work (last 10 years or so) hasn't been nearly as good as her earlier work, and after the first few stories in this new collection I was thinking the same thing about this book, but then with "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor) she introduced some of her old and much loved characters (or their relations) and the stories started to sing again and I fell in love. My favorite stories were "Acts of God", "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor", "The Dogs" (Rhoda's back! God, I love her. Probably my favorite Gilchrist character ever, not to mention my first), and "The Dissolution of the Myelin Sheath", which was my most favorite of all.
May 9, 2017
For years, I've been disappointed in 90% of the short stories I've read, and yet, I still consider myself someone who loves the form. Ellen Gilchrest is in part, why (2 very different writers, Raymond Carver and Jim Harrison, are also responsible)..
It's been at least 8 years since I read anything by her (but had, up until that point read almost everything) and I didn't realize how much I missed her writing until I picked up this collection. I'm not sure any would make it to my "top 10 EG stories" but they shine with compassion and humor.
Maybe I'd really only give 4 stars for the stories, but it's an unequivocable 5 for the joy of rediscovering a long lost favorite.
It's been at least 8 years since I read anything by her (but had, up until that point read almost everything) and I didn't realize how much I missed her writing until I picked up this collection. I'm not sure any would make it to my "top 10 EG stories" but they shine with compassion and humor.
Maybe I'd really only give 4 stars for the stories, but it's an unequivocable 5 for the joy of rediscovering a long lost favorite.
May 14, 2014
Acts of God? More like Acts of Humanity or even Humanism.
The first story, Acts of God, was humourous. "Miracle in Adkins, Arkansas" was heart-warming. "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (about the woman with the loser boyfriend who (the woman not the boyfriend) rescues people in New Orleans from rooftops and returns as a celebrity and meets Mr. Perfect) was eye-rolling chicklit. From there the stories just got worse. "The Dogs" was ridiculous, and the others just silly.
Not my thing.
(Note: I received this as an ARC from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.)
The first story, Acts of God, was humourous. "Miracle in Adkins, Arkansas" was heart-warming. "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (about the woman with the loser boyfriend who (the woman not the boyfriend) rescues people in New Orleans from rooftops and returns as a celebrity and meets Mr. Perfect) was eye-rolling chicklit. From there the stories just got worse. "The Dogs" was ridiculous, and the others just silly.
Not my thing.
(Note: I received this as an ARC from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.)
Read
January 6, 2016A very solid and thoroughly enjoyable collection of short stories. Several of these read like articles in a magazine... they have a journalistic tone and pace. The first story is amazing--the best of the bunch. The last story was a dull and unmemorable way to end the book, which was quite a disappointment. But I'd still recommend the book to anyone who loves short stories, as I do.
June 6, 2023
Stories of different eras but mostly through Southern USA eyes. Familial, singular, group serendipity; a mixture of 99% good intent human. To me, very strongly on the side of optimism. Also, to me- dated in the depths of do good the so called average individual in these stories displayed within the experience or how they conduct themselves. Most did have the common sense of then though and not the negative crass sensibilities of now. The present time blame game baggage missing entirely.
Some of these dozens of primes were beyond my believability quotient. Also the labels or details are NOT from average/ middling disposable income classes and yet the author doesn't seem to connote that fact whatsoever. Wealthy labeled successful characters dominant in types. BMW and Mercedes crowd? Stories of good people and decent hearts.
By the end I was bored. Made me ashamed of myself because I should not have been. Life proceeds and ends.
Some of these dozens of primes were beyond my believability quotient. Also the labels or details are NOT from average/ middling disposable income classes and yet the author doesn't seem to connote that fact whatsoever. Wealthy labeled successful characters dominant in types. BMW and Mercedes crowd? Stories of good people and decent hearts.
By the end I was bored. Made me ashamed of myself because I should not have been. Life proceeds and ends.
April 11, 2022
pretty darn good
The stories in this short collection all take place in the South, and several during the time surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Whoever said ‘The Destruction of the Myelin Sheath’ was the strongest story was only half right. ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’ was equally strong and more propulsive. There is humor and hope suffused throughout the collection, though the subjects are very serious. Thank you!
The stories in this short collection all take place in the South, and several during the time surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Whoever said ‘The Destruction of the Myelin Sheath’ was the strongest story was only half right. ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’ was equally strong and more propulsive. There is humor and hope suffused throughout the collection, though the subjects are very serious. Thank you!
September 22, 2022
This is my second five star book for the day--or the week--because I am reading just one story each day. These are beautiful stories that are heart warming in a good way. (exception: The Dissolution of the Myelin Sheath) I note that the book is published by Algonquin Press, a publisher that I have learned to trust after living in North Carolina for several years and appreciating their publishing regional authors I have enjoyed. (Intriguing-so imaginative yet so true to life: Collateral, Bach's Toccata in D Minor)
June 8, 2017
I liked some of the stories much better than others, but overall it's a good read. She is excellent at giving you a rich feel for characters and setting in short stories.
I will say that as someone who has MS, I hated the story about the MS patient. My favorite was Carly's story.
I will say that as someone who has MS, I hated the story about the MS patient. My favorite was Carly's story.
October 24, 2021
I usually love the characters that Ellen Gilchrist creates and there are a few characters in this book that almost achieve greatness— but not that many. Maybe she was exploring the mundane? It was still worth the read.
March 29, 2022
This is one of my favorite writers. Born in Mississippi and taught by Eudora Welty, she writes about human conditions with humor and insight. This book of short stories reminds me very much of Welty’s writing.
February 26, 2024
Good characters but a little too nice, no bad events or curveballs to interrupt a life predicted. Even the woman who suicides has her plan carried out easily. I guess I like a little more 'the world sucks'
July 21, 2018
I was enthralled with some of Ms. Gilchrist's early work, but these stories did not capture my interest. Some of them were actually difficult to finish.
September 10, 2018
so thrilled she’s still publishing!
My forever favorite writer does not disappoint. if you love her characters & mishaps across the South, she is a must-read.
My forever favorite writer does not disappoint. if you love her characters & mishaps across the South, she is a must-read.
March 6, 2019
I love Ellen Gilchrist. These short stories are good but not her best work. There is one about a woman with MS ....
June 3, 2019
One of my favorite authors.
September 22, 2019
Great short stories. Can't believe I hvnt read her before.
July 17, 2020
Exquisitely beautiful writing. Funny, sly, wise - I love Gilchrist’s voice in these short stories.
April 23, 2024
Three stars because I like Ellen Gilchrist. All of these stories deal with disaster. Read these only on a bright sunny day. If you're feeling at all depressed, skip this book.
June 5, 2025
Long lost friend
It was so nice to read a new Gilchrist book. Seems like forever since her stories stirred the heart and memories.
It was so nice to read a new Gilchrist book. Seems like forever since her stories stirred the heart and memories.
June 13, 2014
I am always humbled by the skillful short story writer, and these ten short stories are exquisitely skillful. I realized after the first two that I had been holding my breath, bracing myself, waiting for tragedy to strike. Then I understood that the people in these stories, perhaps blindsided by “an act of God” or well practiced in living a life filled with challenges, had already experienced the unexpected, the crisis, the tragedy, big or small. And they were figuring it out, maybe not in conventional ways but making deliberate choices to live life on their terms, not defeated by adversity. To say that the protagonist in each story is resilient, calling on inner resources, and all of that would be an understatement. Gilchrist’s characters mean what they say to each other and to the reader: Look around you. Pay attention. Do something.
Gilchrist’s perceptions about human behavior are insightful and often imprinted with her light touch…“Who would have such a job, watching old people to keep them from driving their car?”… “I’m not interesting. I’m a cliché inside a self-fulfilling prophecy inside a stereotype.”…“My advice to all of you is to take all the dogs out into the country and turn them loose so they will have at least a few days of freedom in their lives. Then come back to town, put on sackcloth and ashes, and sign up to teach children to read and do math.”
Her facility with words reflects her expertise, the economy of language that so often challenges the short story author; certain sentences jumped from the page to me…“He was afraid of nothing and would have no need to be for many years.”…“His face looked like a place where nothing had happened for a long time.”… “It felt like I’d never known what to think before and all of a sudden I knew exactly what to think.”… “I long for conversations with people who don’t want anything from me.”
Each of the stories captures the quintessence of Southern life, past and present, without apologies and a great reverence for the women who are the backbone of the South and represent perhaps its strongest face. The final “take away” from this collection might be summed up in the closing sentence in a story set within Hurricane Katrina… “The human race. You have to love it and wish it well and not preach or think you have any reason to think you are better than anyone else. Amen. Good-bye. Peace…”
Gilchrist’s perceptions about human behavior are insightful and often imprinted with her light touch…“Who would have such a job, watching old people to keep them from driving their car?”… “I’m not interesting. I’m a cliché inside a self-fulfilling prophecy inside a stereotype.”…“My advice to all of you is to take all the dogs out into the country and turn them loose so they will have at least a few days of freedom in their lives. Then come back to town, put on sackcloth and ashes, and sign up to teach children to read and do math.”
Her facility with words reflects her expertise, the economy of language that so often challenges the short story author; certain sentences jumped from the page to me…“He was afraid of nothing and would have no need to be for many years.”…“His face looked like a place where nothing had happened for a long time.”… “It felt like I’d never known what to think before and all of a sudden I knew exactly what to think.”… “I long for conversations with people who don’t want anything from me.”
Each of the stories captures the quintessence of Southern life, past and present, without apologies and a great reverence for the women who are the backbone of the South and represent perhaps its strongest face. The final “take away” from this collection might be summed up in the closing sentence in a story set within Hurricane Katrina… “The human race. You have to love it and wish it well and not preach or think you have any reason to think you are better than anyone else. Amen. Good-bye. Peace…”
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April 24, 2024Poison-Color Me Up!-a book that looks like someone went crazy with crayons-short stories about instances chalked up to acts of God. Elderly couple escape a caregiver and takes a drive and go over a banking and in to a pool and die. A gropu of people that narrowly escape a terriorist bombing and are reinvigorated with a new lease on life. etc. Horrid book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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