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

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

In the following essay, Edelstein recounts how Phillips began her career and struggled to write her first novel, Machine Dreams.

In the following essay, Edelstein recounts how Phillips began her career and struggled to write her first novel, Machine Dreams.

In the following excerpt, Hulbert discusses the role of the family in several novels, including Phillips's Machine Dreams.

In the following excerpt, Hulbert discusses the role of the family in several novels, including Phillips's Machine Dreams.

In the following review, Hawthorne provides a negative assessment of Phillips's Shelter, complaining about what she sees as a lack of logic and psychological development.

In the following review, Hawthorne provides a negative assessment of Phillips's Shelter, complaining about what she sees as a lack of logic and psychological development.

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 weighted symbols, of snakes, caves, angels and devils, seem a pesky shorthand and detraction from Phillips's otherwise supple storytelling.”

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 weighted symbols, of snakes, caves, angels and devils, seem a pesky shorthand and detraction from Phillips's otherwise supple storytelling.”

“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 characterization and themes of Phillips's Shelter.

“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 characterization and themes of Phillips's Shelter.

In the following review, Delbanco discusses childhood memories and the themes of good and evil in Phillips's Shelter.

In the following review, Delbanco discusses childhood memories and the themes of good and evil in Phillips's Shelter.

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.

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.

In the following review, Schwartz praises Phillips's Shelter and calls the character of Carmody “[the one weakness in the book.”]

In the following review, Schwartz praises Phillips's Shelter and calls the character of Carmody “[the one weakness in the book.”]

In the following review, Eder praises the stories in Phillips's Fast Lanes.

In the following review, Eder praises the stories in Phillips's Fast Lanes.

In the following review, Brownrigg asserts that Phillips exhibits her talent for presenting the dark side of life in Shelter.

In the following review, Brownrigg asserts that Phillips exhibits her talent for presenting the dark side of life in Shelter.

In the following excerpt, Carter discusses Phillips's break from realistic fiction in her presentation of the Vietnam War in Machine Dreams.

In the following excerpt, Carter discusses Phillips's break from realistic fiction in her presentation of the Vietnam War in Machine Dreams.

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 ditties—some of them, single paragraphs—that are so small, isolated and mere exercises in "good writing" that they detract from the way the best of this book glows. Jayne Anne Phillips is a wonderful young writer, concerned with every sentence and seemingly always operating out of instincts that are visceral and true...

In the following review, Wiggins complains, “Unfortunately, in Fast Lanes, Phillips seems to have fallen victim to her own style.”

In the following review, Wiggins complains, “Unfortunately, in Fast Lanes, Phillips seems to have fallen victim to her own style.”

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 sometimes successful. Altogether, they don't satisfy as much as the longer stories in this collection. Any of them might be marvelous read aloud: already strong in voice, compressed in language, their associations would become richer with pauses and inflection. The best of them ("Stripper," "Cheers," "Slave,...

Jayne Ann Phillips' volume of short stories, Black Tickets … comes garlanded with quotes about its author's "early genius" and its "crooked beauty."… Perhaps if I had not been expecting so much I would not have felt so grievously let down by this reputed éminence jeune. With one or two exceptions, I find these stories to be artsy, derivative and unconvincing. There are many portraits of those who walk on the wild side—strippers, hookers, ...

In the following excerpt, Someif lauds the stories in Fast Lanes, saying, “… Jayne Anne Phillips moves with assurance and charm.”

In the following excerpt, Someif lauds the stories in Fast Lanes, saying, “… Jayne Anne Phillips moves with assurance and charm.”

[Black Tickets] bursts with original visions and primal energy…. [Jayne Anne Phillips's] stories about the old wring one's heart and illumine one's blindness toward the young, the afflicted, the dying, the unloved….

[Three] of the stories in Black Tickets, are perceptive renderings of subdued middle-class problems in suburban settings—conflicts between generations…. Several others represent good period or regional pieces (time: 1934; place: Anytown, Down South). Most of the balance are scraped from the urban underbelly: pimps, hookers, junkies, murderers, loners, losers, many of them young, in brittle episodes of despair and violence and sex. The writing, streetwise and staccato, hustles along from one st...