SOURCE: Barnes, Julian. “The Wise Woman.” New York Review of Books (22 October 1998): 15.

In the following review, Barnes praises the stories in Birds of America, noting the serious edge underlying Moore's trademark humor and wit which adds depth and power to the collection.

Lorrie Moore is good at bad jokes. She's good at good jokes, too, and makes many of them. But good jokes are the sign of a certain control over the world, or at least of a settled vision, the sort of vision a writer has. Good jokes are finally just jokes; whereas bad jokes are more revelatory of character and situation. Wonky puns, look-at-me one-liners, inappropriately perky comebacks: these don't necessarily denote lack of humor, more a chin-up flailing at the discovery that the world is not a clean, well-lighted place; or that it is for some, but not for you, as the light falls badly...