SOURCE: Byerman, Keith E. “Voices from Beyond: All Stories Are True.” In John Edgar Wideman: A Study of the Short Fiction, pp. 56-77. Twayne Publishers, 1998.

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

Some of the stories in All Stories Are True (1992) continue the concern with family and personal history, whereas others develop the experimental potential of other voices. In the five pieces selected for discussion—“All Stories Are True,” “Everybody Knew Bubba Riff,” “Backseat,” “Newborn Thrown in Trash and Dies,” and “Signs”—much of the narrative consists of interior monologues and personal memories. At the same time, each story expands outward to consider some aspect of the public realm, including prison life, child abuse, racism, politics, and sexuality. Comments on media, education, and urban decay are also incorporated. With these stories, Wideman further loosens the...