William Trevor Summary

William Trevor (born 1928), whose life and fictional settings were divided between his native Ireland and his adopted England, was a successful novelist, television dramatist, playwright, and, above a... Read more

William Trevor is considered one of the masters of the contemporary short story. The author of eleven novels and seven collections of short fiction, he was recognized for his contributions to literatu... Read more

Critical Essay by John Lucas William Trevor is an extremely accomplished writer, and Other People's Worlds is as accomplished as anything he's so far written. Trevor has the professiona... Read more

Critical Essay by Terence Winch William Trevor, like many of the characters in his novels and stories, is something of a con artist. The boring opening to his new novel, Other People's Worlds,... Read more

Critical Essay by John Updike "Other People's Worlds," by William Trevor … is a shorter, more efficient novel than [Iris Murdoch's] "Nuns and Soldiers,... Read more

Critical Essay by Peter Kemp From his first novel, The Old Boys, onwards, [William Trevor] has specialized in harrying gentility. His books regularly shepherd into view the well-bred and/or well-heel... Read more

Critical Essay by Jon Pareles William Trevor's characters would be perfectly content to lead decorous, uneventful lives. They work in shops or offices, attend bridge socials and lawn parties, ... Read more

In the following essay, Gitzen explores the themes of loneliness and self-delusion in Trevor's work. Since the appearance of his first novel, A Standard of Behavior (1958), William Trevor ha... Read more

In the following excerpt, Morrison discusses Trevor's Irish nationality and recurring themes within his works. From some perspectives William Trevor might seem to be a British author: he liv... Read more

In the following review, Krist argues that if readers give Excursions in the Real World a careful reading, they will learn a great deal about the author. Any rich and active writing life creates by... Read more

In the following review, Bowman argues that despite Trevor's romantic depiction of the homeless, Felicia's Journey is well written. In Britain, William Trevor's 13th novel and ... Read more

In the following review, Lesser considers the concepts of truth and self-knowledge in After Rain. The great novels draw you in entirely, it seems, so that while you are reading them you forget you ... Read more

In the essay below, Rhodes examines five of Trevor's short stories concerning the Irish troubles and finds that they share similar characters and themes. William Trevor was born Trevor Cox i... Read more

In the following essay, Larsen explores shared themes in Trevor's two novels Fools of Fortune and The Silence in the Garden. With the spatial awareness of a sometime sculptor, William Trevor... Read more

In the following review of The Collected Stories, Price argues that Trevor's short story writing is consistently strong but that his novels are better. The voices of extraordinary writers li... Read more

In the following essay, Hildebidle contrasts Fools of Fortune to "Matilda's England" as he discusses Trevor's views on Ireland and England. William Trevor has baldly ass... Read more

In the following mixed review, Standen discusses the uneven quality of The Day We Got Drunk on Cake. William Trevor's The Day We Got Drunk on Cake, comes in a jacket so swinging and irreleva... Read more

O'Donoghue is an Irish poet, critic and editor. In the following favorable review of The Collected Stories, he discusses the defining characteristics of Trevor's short stories. Graham... Read more

Price is a well-respected American novelist, poet, short story writer, and critic. In the following positive review of The Collected Stories, he examines the scope and major themes of Trevor's ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Paulson commends Trevor's sensitive and realistic portrayal of gender relations in "The Ballroom of Romance," "Kathleen's Field," an... Read more

Theroux is an American fiction writer, critic, and travel writer who, since 1963, has lived outside the United States, first traveling to Africa with the Peace Corps and later settling in England. Man... Read more

Pritchett, a modern British writer, is respected for his mastery of the short story and for what critics describe as his judicious, reliable, and insightful literary criticism. In the following essay,... Read more

In the following interview, Trevor discusses his background, the creative process, and the influences on and major themes of his fiction. [Stout]: What did you do after leaving university? [Tre... Read more

In the following essay, Doherty determines the influence of James Joyce's "A Painful Case" on Trevor's "A Meeting in Middle Age." Many Irish writers have w... Read more

Critical Essay by Zahir Jamal [In Lovers of Their Time] Trevor's open, persevering sympathies go out to the unrecognised characters of time; ordinary lives shaped through silt and scythe and t... Read more

Critical Essay by V. S. Pritchett [William Trevor] is one of the finest short story writers at present writing in the Anglo-Irish modes. His people are those who, in the course of their lives, are so... Read more

Critical Essay by Josh Rubins Can a short story do it all? Can it close in on an intense moment of feeling and dig down to illuminate the psychological whys and wherefores and reach out to touch on t... Read more

In the following essay, Morrison investigates the role of evil in several of Trevor's short stories. Trevor's analysis of the evil permeating human history does not simply link adult ... Read more

In the following essay, Haughey finds similarities between Trevor's “Two More Gallants” and James Joyce's “Two Gallants,” perceiving the former's story... Read more

In the following review, Lasdun surveys the strengths and weaknesses of Trevor's short fiction, deeming the stories comprising After Rain as some of the author's best work. Leverage i... Read more

In the following excerpt, Williams considers Trevor's subtlety in the stories in After Rain. In William Trevor's twelve stories [After Rain], subtlety is the game, though he might do ... Read more

In the following review, Banville finds parallels between Alice Munro's Selected Stories and Trevor's After Rain. The short story is the only literary form to have remained largely un... Read more

In the following mixed review of Two Lives, O'Faolain claims that Trevor “is not here at the top of his form.” William Trevor's fictions swing between realism and the es... Read more

In the following essay, Sänger traces the role of Turgenev's work in Trevor's novella Reading Turgenev. A title such as Reading Turgenev must kindle vastly different expectatio... Read more

In the following excerpt, Bell explores the defining characteristics of the stories in After Rain. Short stories aren't novels—they're shorter. Short stories snatch at life and... Read more

In the following excerpt, Curb discusses the pessimistic and dark nature of the stories comprising After Rain. Writers who thrive on the short-story form and rarely if ever write novels are at thei... Read more

In the following review, Taylor delineates the tragic aspects of the stories in After Rain. William Trevor is a prolific writer and has won many awards. If you have never read his work, After Rain ... Read more

In the following favorable review of The Hill Bachelors, Oates characterizes the main thematic concerns of Trevor's short fiction. Twentieth-century Irish literature has been a phenomenon. N... Read more

In the following review, Murtaugh praises the believability and disturbing nature of the stories in The Hill Bachelors. The Hill Bachelors gives strong support to the growing consensus that William... Read more

In the following review, Lanters offers a favorable assessment of Two Lives. The lives of each of the female protagonists who form the focus of the two complementary novels in William Trevor'... Read more

In the following positive review of Collected Stories, Lanters maintains that Trevor probes both the common and exceptional elements of humanity in his stories. There are certain unmistakable quali... Read more

In the following review, Storey examines the style and major thematic concerns of the pieces in Collected Stories. From its inception at the turn of the century, the modern Irish short story has be... Read more