What do you think?
Rate this book
The Age of Miracles
In her exuberantly funny, bittersweet collection, Ellen Gilchrist offers 16 stories that delve into the vibrant lives of her signature strong-willed women. Ranging from hilarity to despair—innocent children bewildered by their elders’ behavior, a writer living on Xanax, and a socialite seeking a health cure only to find romance instead of rest—Gilchrist’s high-spirited characters always tend to find themselves in outrageous situations. The beloved and feisty Rhoda Manning returns, fighting the lure of the bottle while relentlessly going after her dream of becoming a famous writer. And while the restraint of family and society continues to haunt Gilchrist’s characters, they prove fearless and deliciously carve their own chaotic paths toward survival. Set in Fayetteville, Arkansas and New Orleans, Louisiana, the tales are artfully fashioned, providing tastes of marvelously trouble-prone people at every stage of life. Packed with humor, sexuality, and ever true to human weakness, this collection is romantic and full of passion—a treat in which readers will happily indulge.
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 1995
10 people are currently reading
284 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 23, 2014
Clearly I have to have a book to accompany a William Faulkner book. I need something to let me escape the Faulkner incomprehensibility. So I found this Ellen Gilchrist on my shelf. I cannot remember it right off but see that it is a used book of short stories by a Southern woman. All categories that I can easily imagine myself acquiring at some past point. I get on short story jags regularly. So this just might be a perfect choice to balance Faulkner.
I looked up The Age of Miracles on GR to check a few reviews and see if I could jog my memory more exactly about why I once selected this 1995 book. The first review I scan begins like this:
I read the first story about a divorced writer in her 50s who hasn’t had sex in fourteen months because of the AIDS scare. It is 1986. She had written an article for Southern Living about “how we used to sit on porches at night and tell stories.” She is invited by the head of obstetrics of Emory University Hospital to speak at a fancy cultural enrichment dinner for hospital staff. He has fallen in love with her because of the article and she figures, ‘Why not?’ and that sex with a doctor would be safe. Spoiler: It doesn’t go well. But there is some humor.
So I think: this slumming is an interesting diversion from Faulkner. I wonder how it will work out? I’ll tell you that it worked out just fine as random selections go! Faulkner can drive one to extremes. I expected to alternate reading this book with Faulkner but got wrapped up enough in the Gilchrist characters that I found them preferable to Faulkner’s!
I have once again found a book that is apparently “for” women to read. I mean, just look at who has read this book: almost all women. I read that the author has skill “depicting female characters who embody refreshing, usually positive strategies for coping with oppression.”
Although Gilchrist is a new author for me, she won a National Book Award for Fiction in 1984 when she was 49 years old. She was evidently something of a late bloomer, getting her college degree when she was in her 30s. My curiosity about her biography was mostly unrewarded as an internet search yielded only limited information.
I found a certain comfortable depth to the stories that featured repeating characters, some of whom appear throughout Gilchrist’s collection of novels and short stories. She leans to the professional, country club set who are generally comfortably well off and spoiled, not my favorite class. She does have a soft spot for New Orleans and drifts there regularly as an escape from Fayetteville, Arkansas.
I found this 1995 Ellen Gilchrist three star offering stirred my interest in exploring her earlier work which I understand may be better than her later work. Her award winning book of short stories Victory Over Japan from 1984 is a prime candidate.
I looked up The Age of Miracles on GR to check a few reviews and see if I could jog my memory more exactly about why I once selected this 1995 book. The first review I scan begins like this:
The short stories had a string connecting them: the locations of Arkansas, New Orleans; women characters with a strong interest in sex; drinking and drugs; and artists of various types. Right away I wondered if the author was clearly a writer who likes to drink, likes men, likes to go party in New Orleans.
I read the first story about a divorced writer in her 50s who hasn’t had sex in fourteen months because of the AIDS scare. It is 1986. She had written an article for Southern Living about “how we used to sit on porches at night and tell stories.” She is invited by the head of obstetrics of Emory University Hospital to speak at a fancy cultural enrichment dinner for hospital staff. He has fallen in love with her because of the article and she figures, ‘Why not?’ and that sex with a doctor would be safe. Spoiler: It doesn’t go well. But there is some humor.
So I think: this slumming is an interesting diversion from Faulkner. I wonder how it will work out? I’ll tell you that it worked out just fine as random selections go! Faulkner can drive one to extremes. I expected to alternate reading this book with Faulkner but got wrapped up enough in the Gilchrist characters that I found them preferable to Faulkner’s!
I have once again found a book that is apparently “for” women to read. I mean, just look at who has read this book: almost all women. I read that the author has skill “depicting female characters who embody refreshing, usually positive strategies for coping with oppression.”
Although Gilchrist is a new author for me, she won a National Book Award for Fiction in 1984 when she was 49 years old. She was evidently something of a late bloomer, getting her college degree when she was in her 30s. My curiosity about her biography was mostly unrewarded as an internet search yielded only limited information.
Gilchrist was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and spent part of her childhood on a plantation owned by her maternal grandparents. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and studied creative writing under renowned writer Eudora Welty at Millsaps College. Later in life, Gilchrist enrolled in the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas, but she never completed her MFA. Gilchrist has been married and divorced four times (two marriages and divorces were with the same man) and has three children, fourteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Ocean Springs, Mississippi. She is currently a professor of creative writing and contemporary fiction at the University of Arkansas.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Gi...
I found a certain comfortable depth to the stories that featured repeating characters, some of whom appear throughout Gilchrist’s collection of novels and short stories. She leans to the professional, country club set who are generally comfortably well off and spoiled, not my favorite class. She does have a soft spot for New Orleans and drifts there regularly as an escape from Fayetteville, Arkansas.
I found this 1995 Ellen Gilchrist three star offering stirred my interest in exploring her earlier work which I understand may be better than her later work. Her award winning book of short stories Victory Over Japan from 1984 is a prime candidate.
January 5, 2023
Gilchrist says seize the day! A bit materialistic for my taste.
John Parrish Peede, book editor and literary review publisher, wrote of Gilchrist: “[Her] explosive female characters ... fight for independence from unfaithful husbands, patriarchal customs, and the perceived emotional bankruptcy of affluent Southern society. If one were to breathe life into a bookshelf of characters, one could easily pick hers out from the bunch – they are the loudest ones present, the most theatrical, the flashiest, and they are undoubtedly having the most fun.” (Millsaps Magazine, Fall-Winter 2000)
This is my second reading of a Gilchrist short story collection (after “Light Can be both a Wave and Particle”). I hazarded the latter a four-star rating for its positive, life-affirming stance.
Coming to Gilchrist again, I find myself less enamored. She celebrates life and those who are sufficiently gutsy or driven to make the most of their days on earth, those with a strong life-force, despite their often-flawed decisions and chaotic lives. After multiple stories about extrovert, action-oriented people hungry for experience (yes, even you, Rhoda), I missed more introspective, transcendent writing.
Interestingly, while Gilchrist is (was?) a Zen practitioner, she seems to welcome her protagonists' yearnings for sensual and material pleasures (getting laid, having books published, eating well, travel). While I'm not excited by the idea of Buddhist fiction, I am surprised by Gilchrist's easy celebration of the excitement of acquiring, consuming, and experiencing (see some of the quotes below).
Quotes:
“'I’ll get rich someday', she said out loud. ‘Whatever you want you get. Well, it’s true.’ I’ll be leaving here before too long. I’ll have a job and a boyfriend and the things I need. Remember what I read in that poem. ‘Oh, world, world, I cannot get thee close enough.’ Remember that and forget the rest.” (The Blue House)
"Both of them had been on the make most of their lives. Not to feed off of other people or do intentional harm. Just to sample the wares of the world, to trade at the fair, to know the mornings, evenings, afternoons and not to hesitate when something fine or plump or juicy was at stake. They both liked the excitement and they knew how to generate it.” (Joyce)
"Brenda was in great shape for her age. Her legs were long and thin and her skin was tight and she only weighed two pounds more than when she had been Homecoming Queen of Fayetteville High. She had lived a lot of history and none of it had gotten her down. She was living in an age of miracles and proof of it was all around her.” (Death Comes to a Hero)
"I’m going to see paintings, eat Italian food, then rent a sports car and drive up to the mountains to go skiing. My young lover and I have a motto. We’ll take today. I know we aren’t the first to think of that but it still works.” (The Uninsured)
Other Gilchrist reviews:
Light Can be both Wave and Particle (1989) 4*
John Parrish Peede, book editor and literary review publisher, wrote of Gilchrist: “[Her] explosive female characters ... fight for independence from unfaithful husbands, patriarchal customs, and the perceived emotional bankruptcy of affluent Southern society. If one were to breathe life into a bookshelf of characters, one could easily pick hers out from the bunch – they are the loudest ones present, the most theatrical, the flashiest, and they are undoubtedly having the most fun.” (Millsaps Magazine, Fall-Winter 2000)
This is my second reading of a Gilchrist short story collection (after “Light Can be both a Wave and Particle”). I hazarded the latter a four-star rating for its positive, life-affirming stance.
Coming to Gilchrist again, I find myself less enamored. She celebrates life and those who are sufficiently gutsy or driven to make the most of their days on earth, those with a strong life-force, despite their often-flawed decisions and chaotic lives. After multiple stories about extrovert, action-oriented people hungry for experience (yes, even you, Rhoda), I missed more introspective, transcendent writing.
Interestingly, while Gilchrist is (was?) a Zen practitioner, she seems to welcome her protagonists' yearnings for sensual and material pleasures (getting laid, having books published, eating well, travel). While I'm not excited by the idea of Buddhist fiction, I am surprised by Gilchrist's easy celebration of the excitement of acquiring, consuming, and experiencing (see some of the quotes below).
Quotes:
“'I’ll get rich someday', she said out loud. ‘Whatever you want you get. Well, it’s true.’ I’ll be leaving here before too long. I’ll have a job and a boyfriend and the things I need. Remember what I read in that poem. ‘Oh, world, world, I cannot get thee close enough.’ Remember that and forget the rest.” (The Blue House)
"Both of them had been on the make most of their lives. Not to feed off of other people or do intentional harm. Just to sample the wares of the world, to trade at the fair, to know the mornings, evenings, afternoons and not to hesitate when something fine or plump or juicy was at stake. They both liked the excitement and they knew how to generate it.” (Joyce)
"Brenda was in great shape for her age. Her legs were long and thin and her skin was tight and she only weighed two pounds more than when she had been Homecoming Queen of Fayetteville High. She had lived a lot of history and none of it had gotten her down. She was living in an age of miracles and proof of it was all around her.” (Death Comes to a Hero)
"I’m going to see paintings, eat Italian food, then rent a sports car and drive up to the mountains to go skiing. My young lover and I have a motto. We’ll take today. I know we aren’t the first to think of that but it still works.” (The Uninsured)
Other Gilchrist reviews:
Light Can be both Wave and Particle (1989) 4*
July 20, 2016
The short stories had a string connecting them: the locations of Arkansas, New Orleans; women characters with a strong interest in sex; drinking and drugs; and artists of various types. Right away I wondered if the author was clearly a writer who likes to drink, likes men, likes to go party in New Orleans. The stories focused on different characters in this world, including a young boy whose mother is the drinking, man chasing writer, or a teenage girl who is observing her parents' circle of poets and writers. At first I thought the stories were just coincidentally connected - the author is using the same names from one story to the next. It wasn't until the last short stories that I saw that the whole book had been linked. One of Gilchrist's characters Rhoda is seen at several different ages in her life, in different situations with different husbands or lovers. Rhoda seems very connected to the author. She is not a great mother, but she is proud of her life. I would have rated the book plain good, but it was very clever to me how it became apparent that all these separated stories were woven together much like real life!
did-not-finish
January 3, 2017Included this in a speed-dating project and decided to pass it along elsewhere.
August 1, 2023
This is a gem of a book! I loved it, its so funny and I really enjoyed the way she writes about family and relationships. The reoccurrence of the character Rhoda made for fun reading too. I liked getting to know her at different points in her life.
April 30, 2009
"Meh" is the best word to describe what I think of this book. I am astonished by the amount of 4 & 5 star reviews on this. I don't always tend to agree with the majority on most books, but at least I find the reviews and opinions understandable and valid. Even if I don't agree with other people, I can usually at least understand why they like or dislike something when I read their opinions. I have no idea how anyone could rate this boring, drag-on book 5 stars, and have actually enjoyed it.
I only finished it because I hate starting a book and not finishing it, and it wasn't completely awful. At times it was decent. Yet, at no-time did I marvel at the writing, or get really drawn in to any of the scenes. I just made it through. About 2/3rds of the way through the book I was just trying to get through with it by thinking about how much more I will enjoy the next book I read simply because it has to be better than this.
It was more of a disjointed novel than a book of short stories. Everytime I read Rhoda Manning's name again, I groaned inside. I didn't find her a particularly fascinating character to begin with, so as she popped up in almost every single story as the main character, it became too much of a not-that-great-to-begin-with thing.
I only finished it because I hate starting a book and not finishing it, and it wasn't completely awful. At times it was decent. Yet, at no-time did I marvel at the writing, or get really drawn in to any of the scenes. I just made it through. About 2/3rds of the way through the book I was just trying to get through with it by thinking about how much more I will enjoy the next book I read simply because it has to be better than this.
It was more of a disjointed novel than a book of short stories. Everytime I read Rhoda Manning's name again, I groaned inside. I didn't find her a particularly fascinating character to begin with, so as she popped up in almost every single story as the main character, it became too much of a not-that-great-to-begin-with thing.
August 26, 2019
This 1996 collection of marvelous short stories is filled with further adventures of her favorite character, Rhoda Manning, and people she has met, even if in a tangential manner. I always love encountering Rhoda in any of the stages of her life - this book jumps around across her twenties, forties, and sixties. Gilchrist knows how to tell stories, how to dig deep into characters and situations, how to have them encounter the logical results of their actions as well as completely unexpected events. Sudden deaths occur, as do affairs, divorces, drunkenness, success, and a whole bunch of literary quotations. My fave story is way outside the realm of Gilchrist's normal settings - "The Raintree Street and the Washerteria" is set in a New Orleans where poets are a step above musicians in the world of legends and stardom. There is a character in this one who interacts with Rhoda elsewhere, but this little story doesn't need us to know that to love it.
December 20, 2010
I just love the way that Ellen Gilchrist writes. It is so smooth and creamy; it's like drinking a mug of hot chocolate. I have read several of her books in the past. The topics are not always fun and light but the writing is just superb. This is a book of short stories, which I normally don't read. The reason is that if I'm enjoying a story, I want it to continue; I'm not ready for it to end. That was the case with this book. It was almost frustrating but I got over it as soon as I started the next story. I also like that Gilchrist often writes short stories about the characters in her novels.
September 14, 2008
I love all the books I have read by Ellen Gilcrist. She uses the same characters in different stories and settings. Even though this is a book of short stories, they do tie together at the end. I can always identify with someone that she writes about. This time it was the woman who needed to write to be whole, even when she knew that it was causing such pain for the rest of her family. What i can relate to is her saying, "The happier I am, the more I love you."
September 6, 2019
This is a wonderful collection of stories. They all seem to be interconnected but, each one is great as a stand alone. The characters are wonderfully portrayed and the Southern feel is beautifully written. The characters POV move between alcoholic and late entry literary student and attempts to fit in and make a new life after giving in for everyone else.
At times, it made one wonder if parts or pieces of some stories were autobiographical.
I am glad I read the collection.
At times, it made one wonder if parts or pieces of some stories were autobiographical.
I am glad I read the collection.
March 7, 2016
this is a kind of book that you don't understand if you like it while you read it. I was expecting much more, because the idea is so good and original. also I think the characters could've been chosen better.
October 27, 2008
Terrible. Whinning and making excuses. Couldn't even finish it!
December 5, 2012
I probably shouldn't rate it because I didn't read all of it-- I read a few stories and couldn't connect with any of the narrators at all, so I took it back to the library.
July 1, 2016
Collection of short stories by this critically acclaimed author. Romance is the focus, and these stories are funny and tender.
March 23, 2020
I am not usually a fan of short stories, but wanted to try this book. I was very pleasantly surprised and found that I liked all of the stories.
March 26, 2022
The author has a vivid imagination and an incredible vocabulary, but I did not enjoy this book. The characters were pretentious, their situations untenable and the plots tedious. It was all just too much "look, I can write long-winded stories with incredibly complicated people who do the most fascinatingly insane things," but none of the stories grabbed my gut and made me forget to eat. A good story does that. None here did.
May 19, 2020
I really enjoyed this great collection of short stories - it's quirky, slightly surreal and great fun. I particularly loved the way characters kept turning up in different contexts and different stories so the reader could see things from different angles. The character Rhoda who turns up in most of the stories is simply amazing - I loved her! I'm now definitely a Gilchrist fan.
April 20, 2025
I enjoyed the writing itself but the stories got confusing sometimes. Using the same names was meant to link the stories together, but it was not always clear if it was actually the same character or not.
February 29, 2024
Playful writing with some very strong characters. I liked the connection between the stories, but because of that, I wanted a bit more resolution.
April 19, 2021
For me, these stories were ok. Some of them were, anyway. They're told in a very straightforward, matter of fact style. The author often refers to herself as a magazine writer, and that makes sense. A lot of them are like stories you'd hear on "The Moth" - just not as interesting. If you are thinking of reading this collection, I would strongly advise you to skip the "Washeteria" story. It's terrible. I think it poisoned my mind for all the stories that came after that. Not that they were any great shakes, but I think I would have hated them less.
July 10, 2013
The writing is fantastic, but I found the stories repetitive. Perhaps that is how authors tie together a short story collection, but it was tiresome by the last for me. Overall though, it is a worthy, quick read. I especially enjoyed her theme of gratitude in the face of tragedy, and there was abundant humor and love of life.
March 3, 2014
Lovely substantial short stories based around New Orleans that kept my interest.
Some are linked or look at the same events through the eyes of different characters.
The women are not all 'heroines' but often admirable - not least for their attitude towards sex/lovers/marriage/self realisation.
Some are linked or look at the same events through the eyes of different characters.
The women are not all 'heroines' but often admirable - not least for their attitude towards sex/lovers/marriage/self realisation.
February 3, 2008
Great southern author. I think most of the stories are based on her own life (loosely, if anything) but they are funny with that humor that only us native southern belles can truly appreciate.
Read
February 21, 2012The Age of Miracles by Ellen Gilchrist (1996)
April 3, 2012
As the Washington Post has said, "To say that Ellen Gilchrist can write is to say that Placido Domingo can sing. All you need to do is listen." Amazon Reviews--I concur
July 2, 2012
Great book for beginner new age :)
January 5, 2014
After loving hers of years ago, this was very uneven - some stories were good, others just flat
May 2, 2013
Each of us is the leading lady in our own life.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews