“Ellen Gilchrist chose the thirty-four stories herself from seven of her books, spanning nearly twenty years, and chose them not for posterity, but for now. Each is still as charged and crackling with its own centrifugal emotion as the day it was written…. By placing these stories in close proximity within the same book, the effect is almost un-earthly…. Once you have read these stories you won’t be able to pass a stranger on the street without wondering what his story is, and knowing if Gilchrist were there, she wouldn’t hesitate to tell it.”
—Tommy Hays, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Gilchrist’s voice has become an integral part of American literature…. She grants readers the boon of her humor, wisdom, and beautifully crafted prose.”
—Donna Seaman, Booklist
“A new collection of short stories from a master of the form…. Readers who know Ms. Gilchrist only through Sarah Conley or who haven’t yet entered her world at all will find Collected Stories the perfect place to begin…. Gilchrist is a master at layering a remarkably funny surface over a foundation of immense sadness and anxiety.”
—Ron Carter, Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Being a newcomer to Gilchrist’s writing, I was immediately struck by two aspects of her work. The first is the way Gilchrist excels in describing the human condition, warts and all…. The other outstanding feature about her writing is that she creates entire lives…. Gilchrist’s world is full of people who survive self-inflicted misfortunes. And, when they do, we aren’t sorry. What we really want to know is, what will they be doing next?”
—Amrita Shlachter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Gilchrist is very good…. She surprises with something so striking and new that it seems necessary to reread what has gone before.”
—David Milofsky, Denver Rocky Mountain News
“Gilchrist is an important voice in contemporary Southern fiction…. Highly recommended.”
—Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Library Journal
“Like a good magician, Ellen Gilchrist keeps her talents impressive and invisible at the same time. Her stories effortlessly convey the complexity of human relationships without abandoning simplicity…. Gilchrist compiled many of her favorite creations into Collected Stories, spreading their honest, eccentric, and endearing narratives throughout the collection in chronological order. It’s a pleasure every time the author offers an update on naïve would-be anarchist Nora Jane Whittington or headstrong Rhoda Manning…. Gilchrist’s greatest trick could be the way she avoids the trappings of much contemporary Southern fiction.”
—Joshua Klein, The Onion
“Collected Stories is cause for celebration…. Gilchrist is such a persuasive writer that we feel a kinship with her characters’ messy, interesting lives, are fascinated by their quirky sensibilities.”
—Nancy Pate, Orlando Sentinel
“In this golden age of feel-good fiction, Gilchrist must be credited for grappling with the truth in all its ugliness…. The roughness of her composition works in her favor, conveying the immediacy of deeply felt moments in the lives of her characters.”
—Jason K. Friedman, San Francisco Chronicle
“I was struck by the power of Gilchrist’s last lines, the way she builds on readers’ expectations and then shatters them…. She is also one of the finest writers of a rarest species: the happy story.”
—Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review
“There is such wisdom and strength and optimism in Gilchrist’s writing. At her best, the prose is so clear it all but forces the reader toward clarity…. She has an uncanny ability to impart both the joy and the considerable brutality of romantic love and family relationships…. In the end, almost all of Gilchrist’s stories are about hope, our ability to triumph in ways large and, mostly, small.”
—Julia Reed, Vogue