Kaye Gibbons Criticism
The critical scholarship surrounding Kaye Gibbons's work highlights her as a distinctive voice in Southern literature, known for her authentic portrayal of Southern life and keen attention to female discourse. Her narrative style, often compared to Eudora Welty, stands out through its unique use of dialogue and "vernacular authenticity," a quality praised by critics such as Nancy Lewis. Gibbons's exploration of identity and resilience is central to her work, which remains compelling for its emotionally resonant storytelling and depiction of the human condition.
In her collection of novels, Gibbons skillfully navigates themes of personal hardship and strength. Ellen Foster is noted for its anti-racist message, though it has faced some criticism for its portrayal of male characters, as discussed by Sharon Monteith. Her ability to balance humor and tragedy, finding "comedy in tragedy," as Jane Fisher observes, is a testament to her economical writing style.
Several of Gibbons's major works, such as A Virtuous Woman, delve into the intricacies of human relationships and mortality. This novel, where Ruby Stokes confronts her impending death, is noted for its "remarkable structure" by Marilyn Chandler, though its use of multiple narrators has been critiqued by Deanna Derrico.
In A Cure for Dreams, Gibbons weaves narratives that challenge moral boundaries, as noted by Rhoda Koenig. Meanwhile, Charms for the Easy Life presents Charlie Kate Birch, a midwife whose invulnerable spirit has been critiqued for its lack of believability by Stephen McCauley. Despite these criticisms, her storytelling is often described as "spiritually bracing," capturing the resilience and grace of her characters, as Ralph C. Wood points out.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Gibbons, Kaye (Vol. 145)
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‘The Only Hard Part Was the Food’: Recipes for Self-Nurture in Kaye Gibbons's Novels
(summary)
In the following essay, Makowsky discusses the relationship between food and nurturing in Gibbons's Ellen Foster and A Virtuous Woman.
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Kaye Gibbons's A Virtuous Woman: A Bakhtinian/Iserian Analysis of Conspicuous Agreement
(summary)
In the following essay, Souris uses the narrative theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and Wolfgang Iser to analyze the multiple narration of Gibbons's A Virtuous Woman.
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Kaye Gibbons (1960-)
(summary)
In the following essay, Mason provides an overview of Gibbons's life and career.
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Kaye Gibbons
(summary)
In the following interview, Summer and Gibbons discuss Gibbons's transition to a new publisher, the challenges she faced while developing her fourth novel, Charms for the Easy Life, and her creative process, which draws from her personal experiences and philosophical outlook on writing.
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Daughters of the South
(summary)
In the following review, Cohen discusses the Southern women in Gibbons's Charms for the Easy Life, Pam Durban's The Laughing Place, and Elizabeth Berg's Durable Goods. Sensitive daughters and powerful parents are the focus of these three recent Southern novels. Charlie Kate, part folk-healer, part-scientist, the North Carolina grandmother in Kaye Gibbons' fourth novel, Charms for the Easy Life, defies labels as she rises off the page. Louise Vess, the mother in Pam Durban's first novel, The Laughing Place, is a formidable figure with upper-class aspirations and stiff upper lip, thwarted by the small universe of Timmons, South Carolina. In Durable Goods, Elizabeth Berg's first novel, set on a Texas military base, it's an abusive father who looms large. Though all three daughter-narrators are both blessed and cursed by these powerful parent figures, Gibbons' medic/grandmother Charlie Kate might well become the most memorable older woman in twentieth-century literature.
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Beyond the Scarlett Image: Women Writing about the South
(summary)
In the following essay, Harris asserts that the heroines of several contemporary Southern novels, including Gibbons's Charms for the Easy Life, go beyond the image of Scarlett O'Hara in portraying life for women in the South. Whether presented in the context of tragic, humorous, or almost mythic circumstances, the southern women portrayed in five recent works do more than rebuild their lives and nurture their offspring. They create an environment in which truth can come to light, intimacy can be undertaken and maintained, and hope can arise from disillusionment and betrayal. Although Scarlett's last words may ring false to some observers of human nature, the women in the books reviewed here clearly have found diverse but unmistakable paths to more promising tomorrows.
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Women and ‘The Gift for Gab’: Revisionary Strategies in A Cure for Dreams
(summary)
In the following essay, Branan describes how language empowers the women in Gibbons's A Cure for Dreams.
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Sights Unseen
(summary)
In the following review, Kellaway complains that there is not enough material in Gibbons's Sights Unseen to sustain an entire novel.
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Kaye Gibbons: Her Full-Time Women
(summary)
In the following essay, Lewis praises Gibbons's characterization in her novels and discusses some of Gibbons's memorable heroines.
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Simply Talking: Women and Language in Kaye Gibbons's A Cure for Dreams
(summary)
In the following essay, McKee analyzes the uniquely feminine language in Gibbons's A Cure for Dreams and the way that language binds the female characters to a community of women.
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‘Colored Biscuits’: Reconstructing Whiteness and the Boundaries of ‘Home’ in Kaye Gibbons's Ellen Foster
(summary)
In the following essay, Munafo discusses Ellen's changing attitudes toward racial differences in Gibbons's Ellen Foster and the implications Ellen's attitude has on the novel as an antiracist text.
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On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon
(summary)
In the following review, Fisher discusses Gibbons's On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon in terms of its relationship with the author's other works.
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Re-visioning the Wilderness: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Ellen Foster
(summary)
In the following essay, Groover contrasts the quests in Gibbons's Ellen Foster and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.
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Between Girls: Kaye Gibbons' Ellen Foster and Friendship as a Monologic Formulation
(summary)
In the following essay, Monteith studies how the structure of Gibbons's Ellen Foster as a monologue affects the presentation of the relationship between Ellen and Starletta, demonstrating how Ellen's first-person narration essentially robs Starletta of her own voice in the novel.
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‘The Only Hard Part Was the Food’: Recipes for Self-Nurture in Kaye Gibbons's Novels
(summary)
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Gibbons, Kaye (Vol. 88)
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Voices of the New South
(summary)
In the following excerpt, he examines the 'narrative tone' in Ellen Foster, contending that 'the voice is distinctly Southern … [and focuses] our attention as much on the story as the voice telling it.'
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As Ruby Lay Dying
(summary)
In the following positive review of A Virtuous Woman, he maintains that the novel has a "remarkable structure" that compensates for the lack of "verbal and dramatic fireworks."
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Two Timers
(summary)
In the following excerpt, D'Errico favorably assesses A Virtuous Woman, but faults Gibbons's use of multiple narrators in the final chapter as an instance of technique overpowering content.
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A Virtuous Woman
(summary)
In the following review, she examines the themes of loyalty, self-sacrifice, compassion, and love in A Virtuous Woman. Chandler discusses the complexities of love and marriage in a culture of contradictory ideals, highlighting the virtues of loyalty, tolerance, compassion, and forgiveness as essential for workable partnerships.
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Making Themselves Over
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Kavaney positively reviews A Virtuous Woman, highlighting the simplicity of Kaye Gibbons's second novel and contrasting it with her first, Ellen Foster. The novel portrays Ruby, who is dying of lung cancer and reflecting on her life, while her husband Jack mourns her after her death.
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Southern Comfort
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Koenig enthusiastically reviews A Cure for Dreams. She notes, however, that Gibbons appears, occasionally, to confuse morality with self-righteousness.
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Gumption and Grace in the Novels of Kaye Gibbons
(summary)
In the following essay, Wood examines Gibbons's first three novels, contending that her writings are "spiritually bracing" because her "characters tell and listen to stories … to discern their tragic situation, [and] to adjust their dreams to their disappointments."
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'He's Gone. Go Start the Coffee.'
(summary)
In the following review, he applauds the strong female characters and lyrical prose in Charms for the Easy Life, but faults Gibbons for making the central character, Charlie Kate, less than believable because of her resilience and invulnerability.
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Voices of the New South
(summary)
- Further Reading