Lorrie Moore's artful short fiction plays upon hauntingly familiar pangs in its depiction of the pitfalls of modern existence. Throughout, a darkly witty sense of humor pervades the often desperate lives of her characters. Much of the criticism of...

The background and works of author Lorrie Moore are detailed. Moore's literary success began with the publication of a work originally written as her graduate thesis. However impressed with the sudden popularity of her fiction, Moore insists on the importance of hard work. ...

The opening sentences of Lorrie Moore's "You're Ugly, Too" present a superbly comic picture of the contemporary intellectual faced with the arid, earnest culture of middle America: You had to get out of them occasionally, those Illinois towns with the funny...

Not long ago, some friends and I wandered into a Friday-night art opening in Chelsea for the actor—and apparently the painter—Martin Mull. Like everyone else, we drifted from painting to painting while pretending not to steal glances at Mr. Mull, swirling a glass, off to...

Not long ago, some friends and I wandered into a Friday-night art opening in Chelsea for the actor—and apparently the painter—Martin Mull. Like everyone else, we drifted from painting to painting while pretending not to steal glances at Mr. Mull, swirling a glass, off to...

In the following interview, Moore discusses her formative experiences and literary influences, her approach to writing, the characters and themes in her writing, and the conflicting demands of writing, parenting, and working.

In the following essay, Phelan discusses theoretical aspects of second-person narration, derived from narratological and rhetorical analysis, and the application of second-person narration in Moore's short stories in Self-Help.

In the following excerpt, Passaro discusses the development of twentieth-century American short fiction, particularly as defined by the terse realism of Hemingway, and praises the work of talented younger writers, including Moore, whose sophisticated, experimental stories are leading a revitalization of the genre.