The New York Times Book Review – Jonathan Lethem: ?more expansive than either of her two previous novels?also a novel that brandishes some "big" material: racism, war, etc.?albeit in Moore's resolutely insouciant key?Great writers usually present us with mysteries, but the mystery Lorrie Moore presents consists of appearing genial, joshing and earnest at once?unmysterious, in other words, yet still great. She's a discomfiting, sometimes even rageful writer, lurking in the disguise of an endearing one. On finishing A Gate at the Stairs I turned to the reader nearest to me and made her swear to read it immediately