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I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting With My Daddy: And Other Stories
A new Ellen Gilchrist collection is always an event for the legions of her loyal readers. In I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting with My Daddy , Gilchrist writes again of one of her most beloved characters, with the hilarity, wisdom, and poignancy that marks all of her fiction. Here, a clutch of stories are told in the voice of Rhoda -- as a child, as a divorced mother of three sons, and as an old woman, recalling the curse and blessing of being the only daughter of Big Dudley. In The Abortion, a young girl whose father is dying and the boy who loves her struggle with clashing notions of what makes life meaningful. In Remorse , a small town hairdresser revisits the last days of his best friend's life and what he might have done to save her. There is a rich vein of sorrow here, but Gilchrist lightens the burden with a grasp of how both folly and grace are born of love. As her characters, both new and familiar, spin out their unlikely fates, Gilchrist proves once again that there is no other Southern writer quite like her.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
2 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Gilchrist
69 books258 followers A writer of poems, short stories, novels, and nonfiction commentaries, Ellen Gilchrist is a diverse writer whom critics have praised repeatedly for her subtle perceptions, unique characters, and sure command of the writer’s voice, as well as her innovative plotlines set in her native Mississippi.
As Sabine Durrant commented in the London Times, her writing “swings between the familiar and the shocking, the everyday and the traumatic.... She writes about ordinary happenings in out of the way places, of meetings between recognizable characters from her other fiction and strangers, above all of domestic routine disrupted by violence.” The world of her fiction is awry; the surprise ending, although characteristic of her works, can still shock the reader. “It is disorienting stuff,” noted Durrant, “but controlled always by Gilchrist’s wry tone and gentle insight.”
She earned her B.A. from Millsaps College in 1967, and later did postgraduate study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
She has worked as an author and journalist, as a contributing editor for the Vieux Carre Courier from 1976-1979, and as a commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 1984-1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book Falling Through Space.
She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.
As Sabine Durrant commented in the London Times, her writing “swings between the familiar and the shocking, the everyday and the traumatic.... She writes about ordinary happenings in out of the way places, of meetings between recognizable characters from her other fiction and strangers, above all of domestic routine disrupted by violence.” The world of her fiction is awry; the surprise ending, although characteristic of her works, can still shock the reader. “It is disorienting stuff,” noted Durrant, “but controlled always by Gilchrist’s wry tone and gentle insight.”
She earned her B.A. from Millsaps College in 1967, and later did postgraduate study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
She has worked as an author and journalist, as a contributing editor for the Vieux Carre Courier from 1976-1979, and as a commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 1984-1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book Falling Through Space.
She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 1, 2023
“This is the moment Buddhist monks wait for all their lives. Because we do not think deeply enough we sit around and worry about things and want things and think we are scared or bored and all the time light is shining through us and time is going on and our lives are being wasted in silliness.
In my case my life was being wasted by bothering to hate a young girl I didn’t even know a month ago. What was an au pair from Ames, Iowa, doing being allowed to ruin my life and keep from me the dearest treasures of my life?”
So funny and insightful, especially the stuff with Traceleen. You can’t not love her. Some of my favorite stories ever in here!!
In my case my life was being wasted by bothering to hate a young girl I didn’t even know a month ago. What was an au pair from Ames, Iowa, doing being allowed to ruin my life and keep from me the dearest treasures of my life?”
So funny and insightful, especially the stuff with Traceleen. You can’t not love her. Some of my favorite stories ever in here!!
March 30, 2008
"It's a gift for a girl to have that kind of father & it's also a curse. It's a gift because you have a safe and fortunate childhood and can grow up strong and unafraid. It's a curse because you cannot reproduce it in the adult world. No man can be that wonderful ever again because only a child's mind can really comprehend wonder."
April 29, 2021
This collection of Gilchrist short stories was published in 2002, which made her 2000-written story about terrorist actions in the U.S. require a short preface comparing it to 9/11. Half of the book are stories from the lifetime of Rhoda Manning, Gilchrist's favorite character. None of the stories are as great as ones she had written earlier, but they are all enjoyable enough slices of life covering the ways love works in family and friend relationships (with only peripheral mentions of romance). All of her characters are privileged - upper middle class to wealthy, and capable of embodying prejudices towards those who aren't. Sometimes she relies on stereotypes, but more often she breaks through them with grace notes of characterization and humanity. I've been reading her stuff off and on for all my adult life, and I'm glad to have finally caught up with this collection.
December 27, 2024
I had read this book last 2012. One of the books that I treasured and read one page per day cause that's the only book that I have and we can't afford to buy another all through out the year. The book was so good and me who is sick finished it in 7 days.
May 28, 2013
I have read almost all if not all of Ellen Gilchrist's books. Many of them, like this one, are collections of stories about different members of a family and close acquaintances. Each story is self-contained and very colorful, worth reading separately. Gilchrist selects stories for her collections that acquaint the reader with a character at different points in time but not in chronological order. We may find she's reverted to a grown-up character's childhood in a more recent book, for instances.
Gilchrist uses a very strong sense of place in her books, especially New Orleans and Arkansas, although her characters may go on a road trip or two. The characters also remind each other of "remember when's" about their shared lives. In one book, two characters may be estranged and in another their rift is healed--although a character may allude to "that one time" so as not to let the other thing "bye gones are bye gones." Her female characters are strong-willed, feisty, and just downright interesting, as is Rhoda Manning in the title story for this collection: "I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting With My Daddy."
My date of reading is approximate.
Gilchrist uses a very strong sense of place in her books, especially New Orleans and Arkansas, although her characters may go on a road trip or two. The characters also remind each other of "remember when's" about their shared lives. In one book, two characters may be estranged and in another their rift is healed--although a character may allude to "that one time" so as not to let the other thing "bye gones are bye gones." Her female characters are strong-willed, feisty, and just downright interesting, as is Rhoda Manning in the title story for this collection: "I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting With My Daddy."
My date of reading is approximate.
February 15, 2011
I love to read before bed, so a collection of short stories is an ideal choice. I can read a single story, then go to bed without being compelled to keep reading. The stories will take over my mind as I try to sleep, finding their ways to my dreams.
Gilchrist writes fascinating stories, with rich characters. The first few all use the same cast of characters, the same family; Rhoda Manning in particular. This was confusing in a sense, because these stories span many years of the family, sometimes seeming like different people from story to story. These differences though are a matter of perspective and time, rather than poor writing.
If you enjoy short stories, I recommend this book. The biggest reason that it's at four stars, rather than five, is that most of the stories haven't stayed in my head the way the best books tend to. They were well written and enjoyable, but truly only one really has taken hold in my mind (and it's one of the last ones, so it could be that I recently read it.)
Gilchrist writes fascinating stories, with rich characters. The first few all use the same cast of characters, the same family; Rhoda Manning in particular. This was confusing in a sense, because these stories span many years of the family, sometimes seeming like different people from story to story. These differences though are a matter of perspective and time, rather than poor writing.
If you enjoy short stories, I recommend this book. The biggest reason that it's at four stars, rather than five, is that most of the stories haven't stayed in my head the way the best books tend to. They were well written and enjoyable, but truly only one really has taken hold in my mind (and it's one of the last ones, so it could be that I recently read it.)
February 2, 2010
Reading Ellen Gilchrist is comfort brain food for me. Her characters, while memorable, are remarkably similar to one another in attitudes and situation, but somehow reading more and more and yet more stories about the same beautiful, spoiled, lucky people never bores me. Maybe it is because they are confident and determined, and shake off their troubles with seeming ease. It's perfect escapism that somehow inspires.
November 13, 2010
I have never been disappointed by Ellen Gilchrist. I think this collection of short stories has to be one of the best books by her -- but I think that every time I read something she's written. The reader was well-chosen -- a great voice for these stories.
October 20, 2010
Really liked _Rhoda: A Life in Stories_ so was even more disappointed with this than I might normally be.
January 10, 2011
I love Rhoda Manning.
July 16, 2011
A collection of short stories, the first several are about the same characters, making it a bit confusing when the rest are not! But all feature well-drawn, believable characters.
March 8, 2012
loving it so far. it's different, i like that!
August 28, 2012
Good bedtime stories. Rhoda is an original
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews