Dec 29, 2009

Victory over Japan | Critical Overview

The collection Victory Over Japan: A Book of Stories won the American Book Award for fiction in 1985. In general, the book was favorably received and commercially successful.

Critics invariably focus on Gilchrist’s female characters and their unique narrative voices. Commentator Dean Flowers maintains that her colloquial style is deliberately naive; at times, he remarks, ‘‘this voice can sound like children’s storytelling.’’ While occasionally, as in ‘‘Victory Over Japan,’’ the narrator actually is a child, Flower finds this voice appropriate even for...