Jayne Anne Phillips Summary

Jayne Anne Phillips "stepped out of the ranks of her generation as one of its most gifted writers," wrote Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times. "Her quick, piercing tales of love and loss [demonstra... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hulbert discusses the role of the family in several novels, including Phillips's Machine Dreams. In case all the babies don't make it clear, the babbling pol... Read more

In the following review, Eder praises the stories in Phillips's Fast Lanes. Even though her ear for numb and displaced American voices is as sharp as that of any of her fellow writers, Jayne... Read more

In the following excerpt, Someif lauds the stories in Fast Lanes, saying, “… Jayne Anne Phillips moves with assurance and charm.” Fast Lanes inspired in me the same sort of fee... Read more

In the following essay, Koreneva discusses what Phillips and Elena Makarova reveal about the human condition in their short stories “Home” and “Needlefish,” respectively. ... Read more

In the following review, Schwartz expresses disappointment with the ending of Phillips's Shelter and complains, “Somehow the mythic quality of the story and the accumulation of heavily w... Read more

In the following review, Brownrigg asserts that Phillips exhibits her talent for presenting the dark side of life in Shelter. It was 1982, and the cool girl I knew had a series of books on her shel... Read more

Critical Essay by Leslie Larson “A Window on the Underworld,” in Women's Review of Books, Vol. XII, No. 7, April, 1995, p. 5. In the following review, Larson discusses the cha... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hulbert discusses the role of the family in several novels, including Phillips's Machine Dreams. In case all the babies don't make it clear, the babbling pol... Read more

In the following review, Brownrigg asserts that Phillips exhibits her talent for presenting the dark side of life in Shelter. It was 1982, and the cool girl I knew had a series of books on her shel... Read more

Critical Essay by Leslie Larson “A Window on the Underworld,” in Women's Review of Books, Vol. XII, No. 7, April, 1995, p. 5. In the following review, Larson discusses the cha... Read more

In the following essay, Edelstein recounts how Phillips began her career and struggled to write her first novel, Machine Dreams. “Eudora Welty, Tillie Olsen, Katherine Anne Porter, William F... Read more

In the following review, Wiggins complains, “Unfortunately, in Fast Lanes, Phillips seems to have fallen victim to her own style.” All of the seven short stories in Jayne Anne Phillip... Read more

In the following excerpt, Carter discusses Phillips's break from realistic fiction in her presentation of the Vietnam War in Machine Dreams. As the Vietnam War literary genre continued to ev... Read more

In the following review, Eder asserts that the strength of Phillips's prose in Shelter practically transforms the reader into a preadolescent in the West Virginia woods. “The forest i... Read more

Critical Essay by Mary Peterson There are 27 stories in Black Tickets; sixteen are very short, a page and half or less. These short pieces are interesting and flashy, sometimes overwrought and someti... Read more

Critical Essay by John Irving Of the almost 30 short fictions collected [in "Black Tickets"], there are about 10 beauties and 10 that are perfectly satisfying, and then there are 10 dit... Read more

Critical Essay by Daphne Merkin Jayne Ann Phillips' volume of short stories, Black Tickets … comes garlanded with quotes about its author's "early genius" and its &... Read more