This collection of 14 short stories won the American Book Award for fiction when it was published and confirmed the author's reputation as one of t...
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reviews
May 08, 2009
Jaslo
rated it: 
I enjoyed young Rhoda, discovering mischievousness but older Rhoda became obnoxious. I like that Rhoda is an honest, vulnerable, flawed character but I don't like when I don't believe her or feel that she's being shallow because her motives are not clear. I like that her name is Rhoda and that she has red hair, smokes, diets- but eats cookies, likes sex, likes booze and in general doesn't apologize for these things. I don't like how dated the stories are in terms of race relations and other poli
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Jan 21, 2012
R.
rated it: 
A belle in bed, most likely suffering from a deep chemical depression, is lost in thought while her companion, a black cat, pokes its head through the cloud of comforters and fixes with stern gaze the reader, the holder. That's the cover. That's what that is. ...
Where Lorrie Moore charts the trajectory of college educated Midwesterners and Bobbie Ann Mason traces the comings and goings of middle class and povertyline Southerners, Gilchrist notes the downward spiral of Southern girls More...
Where Lorrie Moore charts the trajectory of college educated Midwesterners and Bobbie Ann Mason traces the comings and goings of middle class and povertyline Southerners, Gilchrist notes the downward spiral of Southern girls More...
Oct 11, 2010
Nick
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OK. Not quite as good as I had expected. The Rhoda stories and the Crystal stories were the best. Nora Jane got to be a bit tedious. The Nora Jane stories would have been fine encountered individually in a magazine but strung together in a book became a bit much. I have to say that I do remember reading "The Famous Poll at Jody's Bar" which introduces us to Nora Jane. After finishing the Crystal stories told by Traceleen, well-told by the way, I felt a need for a few fingers of Black B
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Apr 24, 2011
Spencer
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This book was recommended to me last summer by a former teacher who is also an Episcopalian minister. In December, I entered a "Secret Santa" drawing involving alumni of my alma mater (Grinnell College whaaaaat) and, per statistical probability, drew a woman I'd never met (Which is a good thing! This is why we do this in the first place, to meet other alumni/ae we don't know, and make great connections while impressing them!)
Anyway, she described herself as a "book slu More...
Anyway, she described herself as a "book slu More...
Mar 10, 2008
Claire
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When I picked this up, I knew I had read it before, but I thought I had only finished it half-way. It is a collection of short stories divided into four sections; I started in the middle with Nora Jane. As I read I discovered that I had in fact completed it the first time and went back to read the first half. I don't know why I forgot this book, but I'm glad I did, because on this reading I found new levels of meaning and interest. I liked the unity of this collection. Although some stories
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Jan 10, 2012
Carol
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This collection of short stories mostly take place in New Orleans (~ 1980's) and involve privledged spoiled women making bad decisions. I did like some of the scenarios, but overall I got tired of the beautiful demented self centered blonde/red head. My favorite character was Nora Jane, a charasmatic 19 year old bank robber (she is so unlike other characters in the book).
This book won a National Book Award in 1984? That's a shocker. Many of the stories seem to lack plot or resol More...
This book won a National Book Award in 1984? That's a shocker. Many of the stories seem to lack plot or resol More...
Jan 28, 2009
Rachel
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One of my favorite aspects of short stories is that they often leave the reader without complete resolution, allowing you to focus on a particular feeling, theme, or event and imagine the life of the characters beyond the story. This collection takes it a step further and weaves the characters together throughout the book, so that each story has a life beyond it's pages. I can't wait to read more of Gilchrist's work!
Jun 20, 2011
Glen
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This is the second volume of stories by Ellen Gilchrist I've read and I've liked them both very much. The characters of Rhoda and of Nora Jane are as unforgettable as they are strangely endearing. There is a bit of the Flannery O'Connor school of southern grotesqueness in Gilchrist, but she has a better sense of humor and a more life-affirming stance, or so it seems to me thus far.
Oct 01, 2010
Amy
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Highly entertaining and full of rich, crazy characters. This is Ellen Gilchrist's second collection of short stories and is just as captivating as the first. A sharp picture of New Orleans (and subsequently, the South), funny and insightful. I think Kathryn Stockett must have read these stories along the way, especially the last section, "Crystal" where the story of crazy Miss Crystal and her eccentric family is told by her maid, Tracleen.
Dec 20, 2007
Katy
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The best known of Gilchrist's work and the winner of the American Book Award, Victory Over Japan is a collection of stories populated by such over-the-top, laugh-out-loud stereotypes of Southerners that it runs the risk of being cartoonish - but Gilchrist pulls it off masterfully. She subtly and slyly pokes fun at what she knows best, but at the same time you see her admiration and love for the culture she was raised in. It is in this collection that we first meet Rhoda Manning, Gilchrist's alte
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Sep 23, 2011
Rhonda
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I really, really wanted to love this book. As it turns out, it was okay, but left me far from breathless. My favorite characters were Rhoda and Crystal, and of course narrator of the Crystal stories, Traceleen. These women characters come across as spoiled little rich girls more than any of the so-called southern belles I've ever come across in my lifetime of southern living. I put the collection aside for ten days or so before writing this review, and I had to browse the stories again to determ
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Feb 07, 2012
Annita
rated it:
Compilation of short stories, some a series which first appeared in magazines rather than book. Author has similar female character as lead in all stories- typically brash, sometimes crass, outrageously careless about societal duty and willing to sleep with anyone, at almost any place/time for pure pleasure or to attain financial gain. Female characters are larger than life, frequently affected by poor male father figure or weak parenting by mother and father. Speaks clearly to anyone who was on
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Jul 21, 2008
Jim
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Ellen Gilchrist was on one of my lists of authors who had won a prestigious award. She won for this very book - so I checked it out without reading the cover to understand what I was getting. I imagined that it would be about the postwar period after our defeat of Japan, but discovered that it was a book of short stories about events in women's lives. The first story, with the same title as the book, had only a brief reference to people listening to the announcement on the radio that the war
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Oct 24, 2009
Tom
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This collection of 14 short stories won the American Book Award for fiction when it was published and confirmed the author's reputation as one of the preeminent literary talents of her generation. She enjoys both critical acclaim and great popularity with readers.
Apr 15, 2008
Erin
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My mom bought me this book for Christmas when I was in sixth grade. I guess she had no idea that it wasn't a book for pre-teens! I loved it, and have been a huge fan of Ellen Gilchrist ever since. I keep returning to her books, like old friends. Her characters are so great, and I love the way they interconnect, related by blood, marriage or plain coincidence, and the way they show up in other stories unexpectedly. The writing is deceptively simple. Her love stories, her stories of parents lovi
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Dec 31, 2009
SmarterLilac
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Man, I love this collection of short fiction. I think my favorite story in here is "The Gauzy Edge of Paradise," but the title story is also excellent.
Jan 06, 2009
Jeff
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Another reviewer on this site referred to Gilchrist's portrayal of southerners as "cartoonish." I wouldn't know about that — I'm inveterate yankee from cold Minnesota. I was born and spent a brief part of my infancy in Kentucky, though, so maybe that's why I've got a warm spot in my heart for all of the impulsive yet faithful yet intelligent (still maybe "cartoonish") characters in these stories. I find it irresistible, that vainglorious set of the southern charm where devoti
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Nov 10, 2008
Aimee
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I couldn't even finish his book, which is very unusual for me. I had about 30 pages to go when I decided I had had enough. It was a collection of short stories, so it's not like I would miss out on some great ending.
I can appreciate the fact the author was trying to make her characters human, flawed as we all are. The thing is, they were so flawed there wasn't a single protagonist that I had even the slightest empathy towards. I would have actually cheered if they all got hit by a b More...
I can appreciate the fact the author was trying to make her characters human, flawed as we all are. The thing is, they were so flawed there wasn't a single protagonist that I had even the slightest empathy towards. I would have actually cheered if they all got hit by a b More...
Sep 14, 2010
Maddog
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This was for book club.
I would have preferred more character development (of the character Nora Jane, for example). It was too schizo for me.
I would have preferred more character development (of the character Nora Jane, for example). It was too schizo for me.
May 13, 2011
Lizzie
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My favorite book of short stories, by one of my favorite authors. Very much a portrait of Southern life.
Feb 07, 2012
Susan
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A normal, excellent Gilchrist set of stories that in sum tell you the life of a person and a town.
Jun 10, 2009
Victory Over Japan: A Book of Stories (Back Bay Books) by Ellen Gilchrist (1985)
Apr 02, 2011
Greta
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Interesting, oddball stories with some memorable characters & scenes. Enjoyed it.
Jan 08, 2011
Sandy
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I think I liked this but I don't remember much about it. Notes say "pretty good".
May 02, 2010
robert
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only read Rhoda: A Fable. a wonderfully vivid character brought dazzlingly to life.
Mar 10, 2011
Jennifaux
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Loved it! Strong, crazy, Southern women. Just like I like 'em, Y'all.
Aug 24, 2011
Kathleen
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Akin to bouncing a knobby rubber ball - you don't know where it's going. But very interesting and quirky.
