In the following essay, Trussler draws parallels between the ekphrastic elements of Donald Barthelme's “The Balloon,” Salman Rushdie's “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers,” and Wideman's “What He Saw.”

Rushdy is an educator and the author of The Empty Garden: The Subject of Late Milton (1992). In the following essay, he discusses the significance of the narrator gaining his "blues voice" in the Homewood trilogy.

In the following essay, Raynaud explores the relationship between writing, creative imagination, and reality in Wideman's “Surfiction” as well as the story's link to Charles Chesnutt's short story “A Deep Sleeper.”

In the following essay, Byerman delineates the unifying themes and stylistic aspects of the stories comprising All Stories Are True.

Rowell is the editor of Callaloo and chairman of the department of English language and literature at the University of Virginia. In the following interview, which was conducted on October 17, 1989, Wideman discusses his life, his writing, and the issues and experiences that inform his work.

In the following essay, Hoem investigates the role of “ancestral constructs” in Wideman's “Damballah” and The Cattle Killing.

In the following essay, Coleman provides a stylistic and thematic overview of Damballah, asserting that the major themes of the short story collection “center on the folk characters' use of black cultural tradition and around the black intellectual's integration into the black community.”

Wilson is an American educator and critic. In the following essay, he examines how Wideman combines both elements of the history of an individual family and of American society as a whole in The Homewood Trilogy.

In the following essay, Weets asserts that the role of music and pictures in “Across the Wide Missouri” “underlines the help necessary to tell a story and signals the shortcomings of writing as a mode of preserving memories.”

In the following essay, Gysin provides historical background to Wideman's “Fever” as well as a stylistic analysis of the story.

Coleman is an American educator. In the following essay, he delineates Wideman's return to the thematic realm of family and community in his works following The Lynchers.

Saunders is a professor of English at Purdue University and critic. In the following essay, he surveys Wideman's works, delineating the author's response to the inherent dualities of sociology, psychology, and image faced by African Americans.

In the following essay, Clausen compares and contrasts John Updike's works—including his 1990 novel Rabbit at Rest—and Wideman's works, particularly Philadelphia Fire.

Berben is a critic and an educator at the Université de Nice. In the following essay, she examines Wideman's use of both direct and indirect methods of communicating themes and meanings in Hiding Place.

Berben is writer and educator at the Université de Nice. In the following essay, she uses examples from Toni Morrison's novel, Sula, to illustrate her explication of the significance of land in Wideman's fiction.

Birkerts is a noted critic and author of several books, including The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age (1995). In the following review, he praises The Stories of John Edgar Wideman and The Homewood Books, calling Wideman "one of our very finest writers."

In the following essay, Mbalia compares Wideman's earlier stories to his later ones.

In the following review, Birkerts asserts that Wideman is America's leading African American male writer and provides a thematic overview of his short stories.

Bennion is an American educator and critic. In the following essay, he illustrates the role memory plays in shaping the narrative of Sent for You Yesterday.

In the following review, Wood delineates Wideman's handling of the various themes, characters, and subjects in The Cattle Killing and Brothers and Keepers.

Oates is a noted author, educator, and critic; her works include We Were the Mulvaneys. In the following review, she offers a favorable assessment of The Cattle Killing.

In the following mixed assessment, Pinckney maintains that “the range of characters in his recent collection of stories, Fever: Twelve Stories, is agreeably broad, the situations are carefully realized; the short story is perhaps Wideman's true form.”

In the following interview, Wideman discusses the "fictional, constructed landscapes" he created in his works.

Seymour is an American journalist, editor, and author of such works as Jazz: The Great American Art. In the following review, he reflects on the absence of imagination in modern society and responds favorably to Wideman's treatment of the subject in The Cattle Killing.

Shechner is an American educator, author, and critic. In the following review, he offers a favorable assessment of Fatheralong.

In the following essay, Rosen describes an interview with Wideman in which the author discusses the major thematic concerns of his stories and his insistence on publishing his fiction in paperback form.

In the following review, Kenan discusses the defining characteristics of the stories comprising Fever: Twelve Stories.

In the following review, Pinsker responds negatively to Fatheralong.

In the following review, Schaeffer surveys the dominant themes of the stories in Fever: Twelve Stories.

In the following mixed review, Wood provides a stylistic analysis of the stories in All Stories Are True.

Gorra is an American educator and critic. In the following review he draws comparisons between Wideman and William Faulkner, and applauds Wideman's characterizations and narrative skills in The Stories of John Edgar Wideman.

In the following favorable review of The Stories of John Edgar Wideman, Gorra compares Wideman's short fiction to that of William Faulkner.

Birkerts is a noted critic and author of several books, including The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age (1995). In the following review, he offers a negative appraisal of The Cattle Killing.

Jaffe is a noted critic, editor of Fiction International, and author of several books, including Othello Blues (1996). In the following review, he responds enthusiastically to Reuben, noting Wideman's ability to communicate the tremendous depths of rage present within the novel's characters and their surroundings.

In the following review, Watkins provides a laudatory assessment of Fatheralong.

Dretzka is an American journalist and critic. In the following review, he offers a favorable assessment of Reuben.

West is an author and critic. The following is his highly favorable review of The Cattle Killing.

In the following excerpt, Rubin offers a laudatory review of The Stories of John Edgar Wideman.