Aldridge, John W., Talents and Technicians: Literary Chic and the New Assembly-Line Fiction, Scribner's, 1992.

Aldridge's book is a disparaging critical view of the minimalist fiction of Ann Beattie and Bobbie Ann Mason, among others.

Montresor, Jaye Berman, The Critical Response to Ann Beattie, Greenwood Press, 1993, pp. 1—18.

Montresor's book is an essential compilation of criticism on Ann Beattie from 1976 to 1993. She includes not only excerpted criticism but also a complete and well-documented bibliography.

Parini, Jay, "A Writer Comes of Age," in Horizon, December 1982, pp. 22—24.

In addition to offering good background information, this article also discusses the stories in Distortions.