A decade of the author's thought is represented in the form of essays and criticism. She explores a range of subjects: storytelling, from the Brothers Grimm to William Burroughs; food-writing, where her irreverent tone triggered a correspondence from enraged supporters of Elizabeth David; British writing; American writing, from the nostalgic cartoon world of Gilbert Hernandez to Louise Erdrich's vision of the everyday; sexuality, from Josephine Baker's eroticism to the history of the corset as well as more straightforward appreciations of the work of James Joyce and the neglected work of Christina Stead. Other works of non-fiction by the author include The Sadeian Woman: An Exercise in Cultural History and Nothing Sacred. Her eight novels include Wise Children.