Flights of Angels: Stories

by Ellen Gilchrist

Described by "Publishers Weekly" as "easily Gilchrist's best book in years, " this collection of stories gives readers a taste of her gifted sense of the language and the humor of human foibles.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literature

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author won the National Book Award (for Victory over Japan) in 1980, and I read some of her work in the 80’s. I found this unread book on a back shelf and decided to see what she would “feel” like at this point in my life. Ms. Gilchrist writes short stories about the South – New Orleans, Mississippi and Arkansas are her most frequent locations. Her characters are generally members of upper class families – and all of them are interesting and quirky. Upon this “going back” to an old author, I found that, while I think her stories quite accurately describe the time in which they are set, her topics and perspectives are often outdated and reflect a class culture which I would like to think no longer exists (but probably does….). These stories also bring into focus that the craziness and friction in families and relationships is universal and timeless.

[Adina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable if not transcendant set of short stories. Some great explorations of voice. Enjoyed the varied perspectives of age, class, gender identify, and location. Didn’t love as much the stories about dying rich people…

[Mickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the very best story collections I've ever read... made more wonderful by my own memories of a southern upbringing, relatives, and friends. Surprised I hadn't come across it before, and I plan to read all her others. Just splendid!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these stories. Very southern.
I found I could read them one right after another. Needed to be reading something else in between these stories.

[Connie Tuggle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short stories

[Kathie Giorgio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read Gilchrist's books for years, and I've always been amazed with her courage and her flat-out setting down of the truth. Her characters have aged right along with her, and with me, and it's wonderful to rediscover the characters over and over again.

The only complain I had with this collection is it lacked the connection that most of Gilchrist's books display. Some stories latched together, but then we were spinning off someplace else. I kept waiting for the final loop-de-loop narration that would bring it all together in the end, but I didn't get it.

I think, though, if I hadn't been expecting it, anticipating it, I would have been as sucked in as I was the first time I read Gilchrist and had no idea what was coming. So, ultimately, I still loved it. What a fabulous writer.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like short stories, but I rarely read them, because I get frustrated when they don't match the times I have available for reading (nothing worse than having a lunch break end when I'm only a couple pages into a second or third story). But I made an exception because I really love Gilcrhist, and I hadn't found one of her books in a long time in the thrift shops I frequent. This book is filled with quirky characters in interesting situations, filled with the moments people's opinions change about the people around them, filled with humor and sorrow and anger and hope. Good things happen to characters who seem to be decent. Babies are conceived, aborted, dreamed of. Old people remember the past, await futures which do not come, and thoroughly inhabit the present. There are high schoolers, post-college age characters, and many people older than me. A delight to read.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories by Ellen Gilchrist are fun reading, highly entertaining, endearing, and full of realism that doesn't hurt, too much. Most of these stories are set in New Orleans, which is what caught my eye in the first place.

[Corrina Corrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

These elegant and well crafted stories always remind me of lazy summers spent on hammocks in the South. Read to relax and revel in the beauty of a truly great writer.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contemporary short stories; not sure how I put this on my to read list since I am not much of a short story person, but good characters

[Lisa]

Flights of Angels: Stories by Ellen Gilchrist (1999)