PositiveElectric LiteratureThroughout these stories, Lawson repeatedly returns to the same questions: How is desire created, and why do we desire what we desire? ... In the final two stories, decisions rooted in confusion and desire lead to moments of violent epiphany?—?climaxes that, more than the particularities of character or setting, truly do seem influenced by Flannery O’Connor. These are the most engaging and affecting stories in the collection, where the style, setting, and theme come together to form something unsettling and complex ... Virgin and Other Stories is a redolent, troubling read, both emotionally penetrating and intellectually probing.
