What do you think?
Rate this book
The Cabal and Other Stories
A new collection of short fiction by the critically acclaimed author of Victory Over Japan introduces five witty, fun, and passionate new stories, as well as the title novella about a Mississippi psychiatrist who goes mad and begins to reveal his patients' deepest secrets, mishaps, and misdeeds to anyone who will listen. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
9 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Gilchrist
70 books261 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 11, 2025
Engaging characters and compelling setups, all wasted by terrible writing. If this is the voice of the South, I dare anyone to point out the moments that prove Gilchrist's writing to be inherently Southern (referencing Faulkner ten times doesn't make it inherently Southern).
The Premise of the longest short story, The Cabal, presents a rich cast of characters gathered because of one death. Aunt tied together by a psychiatrist losing his grip on reality. Unfortunately, the story spins off and tries to do too much all within 130 pages. On the one hand, it's nice to be able to say I didn't know where the story was going, but on the other, the result and Postscript are eye roll inducing. Two of the stories, Hearts of Dixie and Survival of the Fittest, really shine in the craft of the short story. It is in these two stories that Gilchrist is able to condense many disparate complexities into deftly woven concepts. But again, I struggle to enjoy these stories on a cumulative level because the voice and overall writing is so same-y throughout. It was also a huge turn off that so many of these stories revolved around sex (poorly written) and pregnancy (like, every character, honestly).
The Premise of the longest short story, The Cabal, presents a rich cast of characters gathered because of one death. Aunt tied together by a psychiatrist losing his grip on reality. Unfortunately, the story spins off and tries to do too much all within 130 pages. On the one hand, it's nice to be able to say I didn't know where the story was going, but on the other, the result and Postscript are eye roll inducing. Two of the stories, Hearts of Dixie and Survival of the Fittest, really shine in the craft of the short story. It is in these two stories that Gilchrist is able to condense many disparate complexities into deftly woven concepts. But again, I struggle to enjoy these stories on a cumulative level because the voice and overall writing is so same-y throughout. It was also a huge turn off that so many of these stories revolved around sex (poorly written) and pregnancy (like, every character, honestly).
December 7, 2019
I've always loved reading Gilchrist, and it's amazing that there are still several of her books I haven't gone through yet. This one came out around the year 2000, and it's got one relatively long novella and five short stories. The Cabal is the tale of a Southern university community (a common feature of Gilchrist stories) and the psychiatrist who treats many of its people and then suddenly undergoes his own serious mental health lapse. As often happens in her stories, though, this central thread is only an excuse to look at the lives of all these other intertwined characters, each of whom lives and breathes whether they take center stage or only a few paragraphs. Two of the other stories are related to this one, and the other stories stand alone. There is a lot of death, a lot of first love, a number of pregnancies. Gilchrist can write on the edge of caricature - the low-level Hollywood producer is hilarious and sad and scary all at the same time - and then shift instantly into intimate details of character and emotion. A beautiful book, with each story close to perfect.
August 21, 2007
This book got me hooked on Gilchrist. A friend had recommended her stories years ago, but being more of a novel than short story fan I was skeptical. I shouldn't have been. Gilchrist knows the soul of the south, and gives readers both the beauty and the flaws.
March 31, 2009
After rereading Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle, I decided to see how The Cabal stood up to a reread. It isn't as delicious as Light, but it still reminded me why Ellen Gilchrist is one of my favorite authors.
May 17, 2013
This book was on my shelf for years. I finally picked it up and found that it is one of my favorite books by Ellen Gilchrist. Her southern voice is wonderful.
November 22, 2022
Gilchrist is a good story teller, and I would read more of her work. She plays a little with point of view--the title story (a story about a therapist run mad, and a girl in a creative writing class run by a poet) could conceivably be told by an unreliable narrator, as towards the end of it the girl, having offered her ridiculously sensational draft of a first novel to her mentor, considers telling the story as it was. And then the next story, which is about different things, reuses the same names. In the last story I didn't realize the narrator was black, and nominally a servant (she generally refuses to join the others at table for fear of the things she has cooked giving her diabetes, as it runs in her family), until well into the story. It is debatable whether you could call this a further use of the unreliable narrator, or just a playful challenge to my assumptions, and thus to all white readers' assumptions.
September 4, 2019
The collection was good in total, the stories appear to put the backstory in play with The Cabal. I felt somewhat let down, with The Cabal, it seemed like everyone in the story was so concerned with the Psychiatrist who had all the vices on everyone. I felt it was perfect for the breakdown of the Psychiatrist to have his breakdown during the middle of a funeral, that is Southern story at it's best! Unfortunately the Psychiatrist never really gets around to telling any of his tales. Perhaps that would have been a fun story. The collection together was pretty good.
April 2, 2020
Written in 2008:
Another wonderful collection of Ellen Gilchrist stories. As I've mentioned before, I love the way this woman writes.
Another wonderful collection of Ellen Gilchrist stories. As I've mentioned before, I love the way this woman writes.
July 22, 2021
Yeah, fun.
Read
July 20, 20220
May 7, 2008
About halfway into the novella that starts this collection and gives it its title, I was feeling somewhat disappointed. The characters seemed idealized and unrealistic and the dialogue stiff and unnatural. The story was interesting enough, but it revolved around academics in a small Mississippi town, and I think Gilchrist may have been trying a little too hard to prove that yes, we have real academics in the south, even in Mississippi.
But then, surprisingly, I loved the second story in the collection, which involved one of the same main characters, but this story happens just before the first one. In The Cabal, this character, Caroline, was too perfect. Everything she thought, said, or did was too right. That was still somewhat true in "The Sanguine Blood of Men," but she's in a completely different position and there just isn't as much of it. There's a movie roducer character in this story who is quite funny (unintentionally on his part).
As I read on, I liked all the stories in the collection more than the novella. There is still some idealization of southern ways, but who can blame us for wanting to show off our good side when we are so often maligned? Some of the characters remind me of some of lee Smith's less Appalachian, more "modern" characters, in their unrelenting pragmatism and willingness to get on with the business of life.
But then, surprisingly, I loved the second story in the collection, which involved one of the same main characters, but this story happens just before the first one. In The Cabal, this character, Caroline, was too perfect. Everything she thought, said, or did was too right. That was still somewhat true in "The Sanguine Blood of Men," but she's in a completely different position and there just isn't as much of it. There's a movie roducer character in this story who is quite funny (unintentionally on his part).
As I read on, I liked all the stories in the collection more than the novella. There is still some idealization of southern ways, but who can blame us for wanting to show off our good side when we are so often maligned? Some of the characters remind me of some of lee Smith's less Appalachian, more "modern" characters, in their unrelenting pragmatism and willingness to get on with the business of life.
August 7, 2013
I know Gilchrist is an award winning author, but I struggled to finish this book. "The Cabal" held my interest but some of the other short stories, some of which have characters connected to "The Cabal" were sloppily written. The best of the shorter pieces were "Bare Ruined Choirs, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" and "The Big Clean Up" in which she creates believable Southern women of mature age, struggling with families, relationships and situations relevant to all women.
July 30, 2011
Meh, it was only ok. The Cabal started out so well, but when one of the main characters died, the tension was gone and all that was left was the rest of the characters boo-hooing and philosophizing about death. O, and having pre-marital, un-protected sex. Not my thing. It was somewhat Southern in tone and style, but not enough to really grab me.
May 17, 2012
The Cabal portrays the entwining of Southern small town life and reminds me of the wonderful, artistic characters from the small town where I grew up. Now that I live in very large town I miss the unique artistic people that seem to thrive in small towns where they actually have time to create. If you enjoy Southern writers you definitely should read Ellen Gilchrist.
July 13, 2012
I think this is one of Gilchrist's weaker efforts. The short stories are better than the novella. I still gave it four stars, though -- Gilchrist at her weakest is still better than just about everyone else at their strongest.
February 4, 2017
I love Ellen Gilchrist, but didn't find this series of linked short stories quite as compelling as some of her other books - I think it is the novella that let it down slightly - the characters felt a little caricature-ish, however, I did enjoy it.
September 8, 2009
Ellen's books are always easy, entertaining reads for me. I like how she "plays" with her characters form story to story.
April 25, 2010
Not one of my favorite books. I'm not a short stories person. Fast read, some of the topics are interesting and funny. Gives food for thought.
Read
February 21, 2012The Cabal and Other Stories by Ellen Gilchrist (2002)
April 18, 2017
Watauga Reading Challenge: Book under 150 pages (The Cabal, 135 pages)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews