SOURCE: Shannon, Elizabeth. “A Chilling Clarity—The Collected Stories by John McGahern.” Commonweal 121, no. 1 (14 January 1994): 38.

In the following review, Shannon offers a positive assessment of The Collected Stories.

When John McGahern's first novel, The Barracks, was published twenty years ago, a reviewer in the London Spectator said; “… McGahern's development will be well worth watching.” He might have added that each of his ensuing books would be well worth reading. Since the publication of The Barracks, which won the A.E. Memorial Award, McGahern has written three more novels, three collections of short stories, and one play. His early promise is fulfilled. He has become one of Ireland's great contemporary writers. No one writes about the emotional starvation of the Irish with more chilling clarity, and no one describes the beauty of the country more poetically.

The language is sparse and justifies each word [in The Collected Stories]. In...