SOURCE: "The Shapes and Textures of 3 Lives," in The New York Times, August 28, 1990, p. C16.

In the following review, Kakutani offers a thematic analysis of the three novellas comprising The Woman Lit by Fireflies.

Although they have almost nothing else in common, the three protagonists in Jim Harrison's new collection of novellas [The Woman Lit by Fireflies] are all at turning points in their lives. Having somehow managed to reach middle age without too many bouts of introspection, they suddenly find themselves forced—by circumstance or self-doubt—to reassess their lives, and the reader is invited to listen in on their efforts to come to terms with the past. Each of the stories is told, with varying degrees of effectiveness, in a series of dreamlike flashbacks and flash-forwards that cut back and forth in time. Each is meant to convey the shape and texture of a life caught...