Gaitskill

Gaitskill is not a bad writer, but her occasional stylistic flourishes ( "her eyes gave off the cold glow of an eel whipping through water") cannot bring its first-person narrator Alison to life as anything other than a stock figure (the unlucky victim of her times) or compensate for the ulitmately bland and unengaging memoir-like structure Gaitskill employs as a way of narrating Alison's life and times.

Social Fiction 2007

"Readers who enjoy the caustic prose of Mary Gaitskill or Lee K. Abbott will gladly take this book to bed with them."

Fun with Problems by Robert Stone: Book summary 2010

And this is NOT to suggest that the stories by Cooper, Gaitskill, and Kirn are in any way one-hit wonders -- they're great books, it's just that these particular stories seem especially powerful to me.

Anis Shivani: Short Stories Versus Novels: What Is Unique About The Short Story Form? Anis Shivani 2010

And this is NOT to suggest that the stories by Cooper, Gaitskill, and Kirn are in any way one-hit wonders -- they're great books, it's just that these particular stories seem especially powerful to me.

Anis Shivani: Short Stories Versus Novels: What Is Unique About The Short Story Form? Anis Shivani 2010

Can you write from the point of view of a rapist, as Mary Gaitskill does in "The Girl on the Plane"?

Getting Inside Someone Else's Head Dan Chaon 2012

Having read in a number of places, however, that Gaitskill was a truly transgressive and unconventional writer, I decided to see what Veronica had to offer.

Social Fiction 2007

No doubt I should not take out on Gaitskill my impatience with such critical inflation, but I don't think she's done much to discourage the idea she's a "daring" writer.

Social Fiction 2007

Would it have killed Gaitskill to get the collection down to 140 great pages?

Letting Mary Gaitskill Skate By : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits 2009

Gaitskill had a couple stories that didn't work for me, while Tower's were more consistent, but when Gaitskill's at the top of her game, I feel like she is peeling back about 17 layers from the face of humanity.

Shelfari: Omnivoracious 2009

Gaitskill had a couple stories that didn't work for me, while Tower's were more consistent, but when Gaitskill's at the top of her game, I feel like she is peeling back about 17 layers from the face of humanity.

Everybody's Talking About Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned Omnivoracious 2009