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82nd out of 110 books
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7 voters
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Black Tickets: Stories
Jayne Anne Phillips's reputation-making debut collection paved the way for a new generation of writers. Raved about by reviewers and embraced by the likes of Raymond Carver, Frank Conroy, Annie Dillard, and Nadine Gordimer, Black Tickets now stands as a classic.
With an uncanny ability to depict the lives of men and women who rarely register in our literature, Phillips writ...more
With an uncanny ability to depict the lives of men and women who rarely register in our literature, Phillips writ...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
September 11th 2001
by Vintage
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Ok. another rule-breaker.. read this one AGES ago, but I just added Christie Malry's Own Double entry, because it was one of the few books that made me laugh out loud (and to cry as well), and on that flip side, I add, Jayne Anne Phillips's short story collection, Black Tickets.
As the book-track of my life goes this is a huge milestone. As I recall, I stumbled upon this as a junior in high school, i think I had just gone to a reading by Harlan Ellison (who! a story for another time!), and ...more
As the book-track of my life goes this is a huge milestone. As I recall, I stumbled upon this as a junior in high school, i think I had just gone to a reading by Harlan Ellison (who! a story for another time!), and ...more
Ground-breaking, brilliant, masterful.
I'm sure many writers have been inspired by the stories in this collection. Phillips published these stories in the 70s, the style of which now seem to be all over the internet. I have to admit that there were two stories that befuddled me at their ends (as a lot of these short-short stories in general seem to do to me) but I still think that's my lack of perception and not the author's fault.
Two of the stories also seemed to have t...more
I'm sure many writers have been inspired by the stories in this collection. Phillips published these stories in the 70s, the style of which now seem to be all over the internet. I have to admit that there were two stories that befuddled me at their ends (as a lot of these short-short stories in general seem to do to me) but I still think that's my lack of perception and not the author's fault.
Two of the stories also seemed to have t...more
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If someone asked me to describe Flannery O'Connor as music, I'd refer them to classic blues and hard-edged folk like Son House and Leadbelly and early Dylan.
If someone asked me to describe Jayne Anne Phillips' Black Tickets as music, I'd sit her down with a playlist that included a narrow band of blues/post-blues tunes infused with rock and punk, like Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac doing I Loved Another Woman , Catpower singing Robert Johnson's Come on in My Kitchen , PJ Harvey doing ...more
If someone asked me to describe Jayne Anne Phillips' Black Tickets as music, I'd sit her down with a playlist that included a narrow band of blues/post-blues tunes infused with rock and punk, like Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac doing I Loved Another Woman , Catpower singing Robert Johnson's Come on in My Kitchen , PJ Harvey doing ...more
Great collection of short stories that exhibit impressive economy. Sparse punctuation, no quotes, plenty of fragments. Often stories lasted no more than a three paragraphs over two pages. A must-read for any one interested in the art of conveying more with less.
Aside from "1934" and "El Paso" (which I add begrudgingly, as it did almost the same thing as "1934" except poorly), Black Tickets is a series of eye-rolling, "look at me using the word 'cunt' in the 70's" imagery stacked up on top of itself for no apparent reason. When Phillips can avoid talking about licking someone's thighs or wafting in the stars or grinding inside another being, she's not a bad writer. However, even when those moments come about, she ...more
So thrilled to have found JAP. She certainly gives Mary Gaitskill a run for her money. Dark, sexy, surreal stories, this was a real joy to read. Also, this must have been some of the first flash fiction, back in 1975. Great collection, off to read more of her work.
Hard, hard short stories written by a native West Virginian. They speak to the lives of our most disenfranchised and they are disturbing. I will probably re-read at some point because I could sense an arc to the stories that may merit further exploration.
I read this when it first came out and highly recommend it for anyone interested in short stories that deal with sexuality. It is gritty and shows the street life of the underworld. It is up there on my list with Mary Gaitskills Bad Girls.
If anyone is interested where poetry meets prose, this is where it begins. Astonishingly forward and musical. The beat, the hum of her writing, it is like the beating of one's heart.
These stories have splendid mood swings, from languid moments of whispered introspection to rage squealed through megaphones.
I have a literary crush on Ms. Phillips.
I have a literary crush on Ms. Phillips.
Aajibah'
is currently reading it
She's a saucy one that Jayne Anne Phillips, just don't look up her picture, it breaks the spell. Sexy authors should remain a figment of the imagination.
I really liked some stories, but couldn't get into others. Stylistically, it was inconsistent, and I was turned off when the stories read more like dense poetry than prose. I was also not so enamored with the brief, one or two page portraits interspersed throughout the book.
While I understood the acclamations for the writing, I found the stories so depressing that I did not finish the book, which was unusual.
thought I'd added this but obvioulsy not. Great collection of hard hitting v. short stories. Read in the 80s alongside Carver, Ford et al..
Read this one a while ago. Came across it while cleaning out my bookshelf.
I learned the name of a writer I had never heard about. I found this book in the exchange bin at the library. Now I own her Machine Dreams, pounced on at a book sale. It's terse and quirky.
Emily
added it
wow, way to graphic nasty and gritty for me...
mindblowing
I'm embarrassed to say I had not read the complete book before, just the shorter stories in various anthologies. While I had always enjoyed her brief ones, I was blown away by the longer ones. I can only imagine why this book is not taught more in Lit classes, perhaps because of the very gritty content, but it should be. It's a real lesson on what can be done with the English language and with narrative voice. I was less entranced by the title story than by some of the others, such as Country. S...more
Kirsten
rated it
This collection walks a tightrope wire of dense, lyrically visceral prose. As such, it is a bit uneven. Certain stories sing with a meld of memory and present, others seem too unmoored. Many of the stories are so brief that they seem to be portraits: a quick, charcoal sketch, drawn in furious haste. I have mixed feelings on whether or not they are successful.
Still, I give this collection 4 stars because when it works, it really works, and I found myself provoked and challenged, ...more
Still, I give this collection 4 stars because when it works, it really works, and I found myself provoked and challenged, ...more
short stories, sad
Amazing.
I liked the story "Home".
Phillips is one of the authors I looked to when developing my portfolio of creative writing for my undergrad thesis; and this is one of the books that helped my shape my love of short stories, prose pieces and paragraphs.
Her style completely drew me in...her subject matter reminds me of Oates...what is real and unfortunate about being human.
this is a fantastic read. the prose is absolutely amazing. a collection of short stories that lead the reader by way of language instead of action. an impressionistic, magical-realism book. extremely poetic. a good read while high.
The shorter stories in this collection are stronger. The longer ones seem almost too long, as though Phillips begins to ramble, and I am left wanting more of the tighter, controlled language she achieved in the shorter pieces.
meh. highly poetic imagery and startling scenarios, but overall it's abstract fragmentation didn't appeal to me. Falls under the terminology "Kmart realism"
Unremittingly, almost ceaselessly grim. But you can almost hear the sentences crunch as she tries to sound "literary."
This book, along with Fast Lanes by the same author, is probably my favorite short story collection of the past 10 years.
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Jayne Anne Phillips is an American novelist and short story writer. Phillips graduated from West Virginia University, earning a B.A. in 1974, and later graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.
Phillips has held teaching positions at several colleges and universities, including Harvard University, Williams College, and Boston University. She is currently Profe...more
More about Jayne Anne Phillips...
Phillips has held teaching positions at several colleges and universities, including Harvard University, Williams College, and Boston University. She is currently Profe...more
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