Ellen Gilchrist has done more for the short story than any
other writer since Flannery O'Connor. Her special blend of grit,
humor, and everyday insanity has kept up with the times and brought
America's changing lifestyle in direct contact with the continuing
characters about whom she has written over the years. COLLECTED
STORIES is a fabulous book, a must for all short-story
lovers.
Gilchrist is a southern writer of the first degree. In stories like
"1944" (which has such a great opening sentence: "When I was eight
years old, I had a piano made of martini glasses") and "The Famous
Poll at Jody's Bar," she finds the individual voices of wonderfully
droll and naturalistic characters and converges them into a great