SOURCE: "Universes," in The North American Review, Vol. 273, No. 3, September, 1988, pp. 64-8.

Below, McGraw provides an unfavorable review of the stories in Mourner at the Door.

It is not immobility that afflicts Gordon Lish's characters in the stories that make up Mourner at the Door. These are characters capable of taking some kind of action in the world, who attempt, sometimes, to reach out to one another. There is, however, an enormous amount of talking that has to be got through before any action can be essayed, talk that backtracks, second-guesses, and assures the reader several times that this action, once arrived at, will be worth the wait. One story begins this way:

Don't tell me. Do me a favor and let me guess. Be honest with me, tell the truth, don't make me laugh. Tell me, don't make me have to tell you, do I have to...