“Norman Lock has already presented us with an engaging series of stand-alone historical reveals unlike any other writer’s work that I’ve seen. . . . [He] has an amazing literary gift and I am so grateful he has chosen to share it with us through his writing!”

“The Caricaturist is fully immersed in the war fury of the era, and does a fine job visualizing it.”

“Lock expertly provides readers, in the end, with a peek into a lost time wherein, much like the present, America holds its breath.”

“Lock successfully mimics Crane’s impressionistic style in his marvelous depictions of late 19th-century America.”

“Henry James once said that it takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature. The Delicate Beast is a fine example of history writ fierce and smart and large. This novel combines superb writing and psychological depth with grace and a knowing eye. Celestin’s protagonist struggles against the ‘determination of birth, blood, place, and time,’ until the ending suggests yet another possible beginning.”

“Wistful, quirky, and laugh-out-loud funny. . . . Gardiner’s art seamlessly elides the ordinary.”

“Brilliantly written, The Delicate Beast is a sweeping novel of a young man’s search for identity that follows him from a boyhood touched by the splendors and dangers of the ‘Tropical Republic’ into a new and startling international life. It is a powerful tale.”

“I’m a fan of John Rolfe Gardiner’s fiction and will read any book he writes. He has the kind of energetic and clear prose I admire.”

“In a headlong flight from history’s black-winged angels, The Delicate Beast spirals across the globe and the twentieth century in densely sensual prose that merges the Caribbean surreal of Alejo Carpentier with the looping, philosophical conundrums of Javier Marías.”

“Thomas McGuane and Larry McMurtry both told me the short story was, to each of them, the most challenging form of prose. Tom said he wrote five novels before he ever turned out one good short story. Larry ceased all attempts at short fiction before I was born. John Rolfe Gardiner seems to have mastered the short story. These are first rate.”

“A lovely, meditative collection, steeped in old ways and days and with a true sense of place.”

“Fryar seamlessly weaves a fascinating history of racial, class, and gendered divisions that exist in and outside of Washington, D.C.’s quintessential worlds of interrelated nature and American (in)humanity.”

“From the novel’s lush opening, set in the ‘Tropical Republic,’ to countries and cities well beyond its frontiers, Roger Celestin’s voice echoes not only in a world of pain and violence, but also in the beauty and miraculous weapon of literature.”

“What dazzling stories John Rolfe Gardiner writes. His characters, in the best way, are earthbound, caught in the web of work and school and family, past and present. Each story is a world, perfect and complete, and when I read the last one I marveled that so much wisdom and beauty could be contained in a single volume: North of Ordinary.”

“A resonant story of art, rebellion, and politics.”

“Captivating and energetic. . . . The Caricaturist rollicks through a turbulent American epoch via an artist’s coming-of-age.”

“This poignant, unique novel made me feel like a child again in the best way! There’s a magical, soulful feeling to it and the girls’ search for a friend who truly understands them really hits home. I would recommend this to pretty much anyone.”

“[To & Fro] can be read in any direction—start with “To” or begin with “Fro,” flip back and forth between the two, and be delighted by how they intersect. . . . There is no wrong way to read! Only heartfelt characters, beautiful imagery, and a story where there is no ending but lots to learn.”

“A tale of love, drama and change. . . . Fans of Kafka will applaud [Platzová’s] retelling of history while others will simply enjoy a story well told.”

“My God but this author knows how to tell a story! . . . The narrative is so real—so believable—it’s as though the author has used a movie camera to film it all. Quiet hospital room, restaurant conversations, walks around town. Honestly, Trondheim is a literary treasure.”

“Brilliantly told. . . . Magical, witty, and a genre of its own.”

“What a magical, wondrous book! These mirrored coming of age stories . . . will hold you riveted.”

“Physics class taught me that if I jumped into a tube that extended all the way through the earth, I’d fall endlessly from pole to pole, borne back and forth by gravity. Leah Hager Cohen made me feel the same sensation with To & Fro, a twin-tale novel . . . full of intelligence, humor, and deep feeling. It’s as if Eloise and Alice walked hand-in-hand through the looking glass and I was able to follow them.”

“Excellent. . . . I was immediately immersed in each [girl’s] world.”

“Leah Hager Cohen’s writing is a wonder. Here are worlds nested inside worlds, each unfolding like a delicate paper staircase leading to destinations unknown. To & Fro is a gorgeous, captivating riddle of a book.”

“To & Fro is a luminous, charming, and utterly original novel filled with pleasures and provocations at every turn. Through some strange alchemy, Leah Hager Cohen has combined character-driven storytelling with brilliant philosophical forays into what it feels like to decipher the world, honor its mysteries, and stay open to its aches and gifts.”

“Playful and provocative.”

“Delightful. . . . A magical celebration of language, stories, and youthful curiosity.”

“In Annamae [Cohen] creates a character worthy of Judy Blume. But it’s fans of Neil Gaiman and Lewis Carroll who should pay attention; Cohen creates two wondrous, funny, and fantastical worlds. Most impressively, Cohen knows that there is nothing more fantastic than the vastness of a young girl’s mind, and she lets her heroines shine.”

“Like Carol Shields’s Happenstance and Ali Smith’s How to be both, each story mirrors and illuminates the other. Whether readers go ‘to’ or ‘fro,’ the journey is worthwhile, and the novel will enchant.”

“Leah Hager Cohen’s magnificent turn-and-read novel To & Fro is a tour de force peek into the wilds and wounds of childhood. . . . With ‘nary an end’ and triumphs aplenty, To & Fro is a luminescent novel that makes treasures of childhood wonder, whose heroines’ curiosity reflects the wisdom of sages.”

“[To & Fro] satisfies readers. It reminds them of the joys and mysteries of childhood and recalls the ubiquitous desire to find one’s place in this world.”

“Life After Kafka is not just a fictional quest to find out who Kafka’s fiancée, Felice Bauer, was and what kind of life she led after their five-year correspondence ended. In it, ‘life after Kafka’ is the existential situation into which a community of Prague-based, Jewish intellectuals were thrown . . . capturing the living conditions and possibilities of the refugees after the loss of their homes and relationships, after the shattering of the world whose ruins each of them took with them in a few suitcases.”

“Dances with lyrical playfulness and emotional depth.”

“Life After Kafka is a thrilling detective story about one of literature’s most celebrated names, a haunting family saga about preserving our legacy during the darkest turns of history, and a thought-provoking exploration of the rippling impact of famous artists on the people in their lives. Platzová’s masterful merging of fact and fiction, in Alex Zucker’s artful and inspired translation, carries us across decades and continents to prove that our connections can be abandoned and yet unbroken, and that even the briefest encounters—in love and in art—can shape us forever.”

“An intelligent character-driven story of a lesbian couple. . . . The end result is a poignant meditation on grief, perseverance, and the complications of love.”

“Intriguing and beautiful.”

“Franz Kafka is a universe that resists any attempt at interpretation. Magdaléna Platzová’s novel offers a new key to Kafka’s world: we look at it through the tender and sorrowful gaze of the people whose fate had been marked by him personally. An utterly touching book!”

“With Life After Kafka, Magdaléna Platzová has evoked a cosmopolitan storm of post–World War II emotion, an obsessive level of research, and a unique documentary-style attention that adds not only to the mystery of Franz Kafka, but to the scholarship of Kafka as well. This original, sophisticated novel bewitches and inspires.”

“Compelling throughout. . . . Trondheim is an exquisite novel that explores maternal love, the price of hope, and how bodies endure.”

“A dreamy fable about telling, learning and knowing.”

“In Life After Kafka, Magdaléna Platzová movingly portrays Felice Bauer’s valiant efforts to forge a new life for herself and her family in the wake of historical catastrophe, even as she grapples with whether to reveal an intimate and painful chapter of her past in service to Kafka’s literary legacy. This meticulously researched and vividly imagined tale peels back the layers of cultural myth, offering a testament to a different kind of heroism.”

“This elegantly narrated novel, full of fascinations, paints an impassioned and poignant portrait of Felice Bauer and other exiles connected to Franz Kafka and charts a compelling cartography of their now vanished world.”

“Extraordinary and meticulous. . . . An X-ray picture of the subcutaneous breaks and sprains in a rocky relationship.”

“Elegantly translated. . . . An extraordinary read from start to finish.”

“Foster[s] profound reflections upon the characters’ individual and shared lives. . . . Poignant and prescient.”

“Skillfully blends myth, reality, and rumor.”

“James’ elegant novel will leave [readers] shattered and uplifted.”

“Enchanting. . . . As Felice Bauer receives her spotlight, Platzová deserves one, too.”

“Affecting.”

“A literary jewel with multiple facets. . . . With its unconventional form and probing content, To & Fro invites rereading and deserves an honored place on the shelves of any serious fiction reader.”

“Delicately and deeply probes the mothers and their relationship.”

“A deeply empathetic story of survival, exile, and belonging. Magdaléna Platzová allows Felice Bauer to step out of Kafka’s shadow and, in the process, she recognizes that there is always so much more than one truth. This is a powerful, kaleidoscopic literary novel.”

“A remarkable fictional account of the life of one of history’s greatest women.”

“[Charyn’s] writing is devastatingly poignant and nearly impossible to categorize. He switches between ‘genres’ like another man might change his shirt. . . . [In Ravage & Son] the accomplished author has turned to his own past, living in New York City, to dredge up the sumptuous details surrounding what once was the world of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, riddled with corruption and the ugliness of antisemitism.”

“What an amazing book this is. Florence Nightingale—with her insistent spiritual yearning and her work inside the horrors of war—is a large and quite astounding character, evoked by Pritchard in full intellectual depth. The journey this novel takes is mesmerizing and unforgettable.”

“Flight of the Wild Swan offers a fascinating immersion in the 19^th-century world of drawing rooms and battlefields, crinolines and leeches. Just as vividly, Pritchard’s tour de force evokes nursing and medicine today, when Florence Nightingale’s pioneering contributions are still felt and in which women still struggle for equality. An enchanting, inspiring, and utterly relevant novel.”

“Charyn continues to deliver boisterous and flavorful prose.”

“Flight of the Wild Swan is the best of Melissa Pritchard. It combines her exquisite ear for tone and detail in story, her gift of mystic perception, and her sense of the historic layering of human lives and the events that make our lives absolutely distinct. In this novel, you will come to know Florence Nightingale close up, not as a faraway, distant figure.”

“Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights has nothing on Charyn’s Lower East Side.”

“Rollicking. . . . Ravage & Son brings New York City’s criminal underground to vibrant life.”

“With biting humor and fierce tenderness, Jerome Charyn builds the world of Manhattan’s Lower East Side Jewish ghetto from 1883 onward, rife with crime, passion, and the competition of shrewd businessmen and immigrant gangs.”

“Exceptional.”

“Powerful.”

“Charyn is an institution. . . . His skill is such that it’s difficult to separate the real-world figures and entities from the characters and places the author is inventing.”

“Both social commentary and a whodunit . . . [Charyn] tells a story about social issues relevant today including LGBT shame, class struggle, immigration standards, antisemitism, and balanced journalism. His talent at blending history with fiction results in a magnificent portrait of the darker side of society.”

“An inspiring novel about a woman whose single-minded determination comforted and inspired thousands.”

“An epic work of historical fiction. . . . The novel is part Jekyll and Hyde, part crime noir, part mystery novel, and ultimately an instant classic—a cinematic kaleidoscope that captures humanity’s intense beauty and utter debauchery.”

“A panorama of the times.”

“[A] gritty historical crime novel. . . . Brawny, vibrant pulp fiction.”

“Complex and captivating. . . . The noir style of this novel shows Jerome Charyn at his best.”

“Evoke[s] the Shakespearean Lower East Side. . . . The prose of this novel pulsates in a relentless torrent.”

“From country houses to city slums and distant war zones, Pritchard renders the people and places of Florence’s world in lush, richly detailed prose. . . . A compelling story and satisfyingly human portrait of an extraordinary woman.”

“A fresh imagining of an icon. . . . [Florence Nightingale], in Pritchard’s portrayal, is an indomitable force.”

“[Charyn’s] storytelling is off-the-chart wonderful.”

“Pritchard’s splendid latest illuminates the life of Florence Nightingale. . . . Marvelous and moving.”

“Relying on Nightingale’s copious letters and journals and other documentary evidence, Melissa Pritchard’s dazzling historical novel brings this complex and idiosyncratic woman to exquisite life. . . . Flight of the Wild Swan is a capacious and tremendously written novel, one that blends history, fiction and a nuanced vision of the ‘wild swan’ herself. It is a story to read, reread and share with others.”

“[Pritchard] offers a moving portrait of a complex human with the courage to change the world and the heart to mourn her own losses as she does. . . . Flight of the Wild Swan is a beautiful accomplishment.”

“An addictive read. . . . [Flight of the Wild Swan] unfolds in short punchy chapters punctuated with snippets of letters, journal entries and other bits of ephemera that help humanize Nightingale and provide insight into her sharp mind.”

“An awe-inspiring story.”

“A standout.”

“Melissa Pritchard makes Nightingale’s heroism even more intimate—and more interesting.”

“[Lock’s] American Novels series makes a huge contribution to our understanding of the ideas and lives of some of America’s most outstanding thinkers.”

“Oh my this novel is so gorgeous and moving. About matters of the heart, about war’s impact on not just nations but individuals over generations. About how families are knitted together and how they survive with heartbreak just around the corner. How solace can be found in nature. . . . This is one of those rare novels that quietly will not leave the reader alone and untouched. Just beautiful.”

“Read this! You’ll never be the same again.”

“Compelling and deftly crafted.”

“Krivak impresses with this layered story of deferred homecomings and the elusive nature of peace.”

“Subtle and nuanced.”

“As intellectually entertaining as it is memorably thought provoking.”

“Reveal[s] a man still deeply troubled by serious questions and regrets about his life’s work, particularly his lack of meaningful action in the matters of slavery and civil rights. . . . Emerson probably would have loved the novel.”

“A fascinating and haunting novel, The Ice Harp chronicles the vulnerable mortality of an American genius.”

“[An] intensely readable whopper of a book.”

“Krivak’s resplendent multigenerational family saga expertly braids the horrors of war with the struggles of those waiting for loved ones to return home.”

“[Krivak’s] prose is spare and exquisite, breathing life into the mountains, the forests, and the foxholes these characters inhabit. A beautifully emotional and delicate novel.”

“A startling clarity characterizes [Krivak’s] language, which can only be called luminous.”

“Lyrical, moving. . . . While Krivak depicts the violence of war with frightening intimacy, he’s also attuned to the persistence of beauty and grace in nature and in what love endures.”

“Forceful and absorbing.”

“Raises provocative questions about how we perceive and engage with the past and is a further testament to Krivak’s masterful abilities as a storyteller.”

“An elegiac, powerful book about a thinker’s limitations.”

“Lock’s latest in his luminous American Novels series . . . provides countless memorable turns of phrase, and it is the rare paragraph that does not inspire underlining as Lock explores memory, mortality, and the passage of time.”

“What troubled Emerson still troubles us today, as Norman Lock makes clear. . . . A harrowing novel.”

“[A] brilliant pair of tales. . . . I was amazed at the insights the author shared in these two short novellas.”

“Here is Emerson unleashed—caustic, brilliant, befuddled, wrangling with the living and the dead. Delights of language and character shine on every page of The Ice Harp as Emerson confronts his own humanity.”

“Comical and brooding, enchanting and disturbing, The Impostor triggers a unique free fall into the unnerving craters of the mind.”

“In The Ice Harp, Norman Lock deftly takes us into the polyphonic swirl of Emerson’s mind at the end of his life, inviting us to meet the man anew even as the philosopher fights to stop forgetting himself. Who will I be when the words are gone, the great thinker wonders, and how will I know what is right? I gladly asked myself these same impossible questions on every page of this remarkably empathetic and deeply moral novel.”

“Telles Ribeiro’s title novella is a tour de force that takes place simultaneously in the distant past and in the present, in a seamlessly fractured continuum of time. The second novella is a complex and breathtaking work, rich in feeling, an audacious, dazzling performance. By turns delicate and humorous, wrenching and melancholic, it lays bare the souls of its characters in a manner that I can only call Chekhovian. It is the work of a master.”

“Krivak’s Homeric novel is at once intimate and sweeping, expanding an epic story set into motion in The Sojourn. Tenderly attentive to all that is given and taken by war, Like the Appearance of Horses is a graceful, heroic accomplishment that speaks to the costs of duty when violence is as constant as the Pennsylvania mountains that anchor and separate this indelible family we’ve come to know so personally.”

“Norman Lock has created a memorable portrait gallery of American subjects, in a succession of audaciously imagined, wonderfully original, and beautifully written novels unlike anything in our literature.”

“Andrew Krivak charts a razor-fine line between war and peace, damnation and redemption, estrangement and love, and along the way gives us a gorgeously detailed portrait of an American family. Whether he’s writing about battle, the natural world, or the most private, searing matters of the heart, Krivak brings a rare mastery to the page, a synthesis of language and deep perception that delivers revelation after revelation. Like the Appearance of Horses is a major achievement.”

“These inventive novellas are like literary puzzles for the reader to tease out.”

“Two elegant novellas, each an atmospherically charged investigation of consciousness, familial ties, legacy, and language. . . . These crystalline stories form a memorable diptych.”

“Explor[es] the mysteries and possibilities of life continually unfolding rather than irrevocably damaged.”

“Ribeiro’s deft and insinuating storytelling captures the uncanny feeling of slippage. . . . [His writing is] atmospheric and engrossing, and by the end Mr. Ribeiro has proven himself a master of the subtleties of subjectivity.”

“Quirky, darkly humorous, a stunning translated work . . . with smart and nuanced characters.”

“This is an up-close look at what happened, what went right, what went wrong and how we can learn from the experience. Such an important book!”

“Funny and sharp. . . . This posthumous collection of essays on coming of age as a heart transplant recipient exposes so much of the human condition from the perspective of a young woman wrestling with her mortality. Full of hope, this book is a lighthouse for those always seeking the best in people.”

“[Sachs] clearly conveys people’s resourcefulness and generosity as well as the size and complexity of the situation. As large numbers of people continue to leave their home countries for wealthier nations due to difficult situations, this book provides a personal look at what that entails.”

“Timely and important.”

“Unsettling and masterful. . . . Distinctions between art and reality, truth and pretense, friend and foe all blur as the story builds to a true, powerful crescendo.”

“Extending a successful run of genealogy-tracing sleuth novels, Eduardo Halfon . . . once again displays a knack for tugging at loose threads in shadowy, complex tapestries.”

“Offers as much unexpected, whirlwindish fun as its predecessor [From the Shadows]. Let No One Sleep is darkly funny, unabashedly weird, and charmingly playful.”

“Inspiring and troubling.”

“Moving beyond words. Reading this book will stir you; it will find you in your most tender place and open you to your own precious life.”

“This people-first, intensely researched, deeply personal, and altogether devastating call to action tells us that when all else fails, volunteer.”

“Heartfelt, heartbreaking—incredible.”

“Lovers of quirky, fantastical tales will delight in this offering from Madrid, Spain. . . . What a tale! . . . Grand translation by Thomas Bunstead.”

“An irresistibly alluring mix of autobiography and fiction. . . . Beyond his gorgeous prose, Halfon’s ongoing exploration of family, history, identity, legacy, and, herein, the reverberations of war and violence across generations, is utterly compelling and deeply evocative.”

“What a beautiful writer . . . Canción is another fine addition to Halfon’s search for identity.”

“A revealing look at war and its effect on families.”

“A stunning portrait of hardship, despair, and resilience.”

“A multilayered journalistic account. . . . Some of the most powerful individual lessons we may learn from those chronicled in these pages involve the need to tend to one’s own mental health and personal boundaries while providing aid and succor.”

“Gripping, and deeply absorbing. . . . [All Else Failed] serves as both sympathetic companion and useful guide for grassroots volunteers and organizers in future crisis zones.”

“[Sachs] reveals the ways people fleeing for their lives take time to care for one another in the midst of panic and heartbreak. . . . In moments of desperation, goodness shines. This book is a testament to that.”

“Ponders the precariousness of life for the chronically ill and disabled [in] seven poignant autobiographical essays about living joyfully and looking for love in spite of chronic illness.”

“What fun! A book about theoretical physics (and related) that is both highly accessible AND funny.”

“Reflective and forthright. . . . Illustrating the complex experience of organ transplantation and chronic illness, the essays of Your Hearts, Your Scars . . . explore what it means to be alive, to have a body, and to come back from the brink of death.”

“Remarkable. . . . All Else Failed has more than passing relevance.”

“Sachs writes moving passages about the boundlessness of human generosity.”

“[Talve-Goodman] transformed her physical limitations into an outward source of strength, and her vividly drawn essays effectively enlighten and educate. . . . Heartfelt and richly passionate.”

“Thoughtful and sensitive.”

“Crisp, unpretentious.”

“A frank, incisively charismatic text. . . . The mind at work in these pages is sharp and funny.”

“Packs a punch. . . . A raw, deeply honest collection of writing that looks squarely at the hard stuff but also celebrates life.”

“Talve-Goodman blends humor, humility and compassion so seamlessly, you can’t help but be captivated. The book reads like she is speaking to you.”

“Memorable. . . . A strange and often transgressive exploration of art and intimacy.”

“Another minimasterpiece by a master of the form.”

“Compelling. . . . [Talve-Goodman] is a sharp observer, funny, grateful and very likeable. . . . Her essays will reverberate in many hearts.”

“Exquisite. . . . A gorgeously rendered meditation on borderless identity, historical traumas and ongoing repercussions.”

“What will impress readers are the narrator’s descriptions of life in Guatemala. . . . Those able to follow Halfon’s non-linear train of thought will have much to enjoy.”

“An engrossing story of Jewish diaspora, secrets, and the multigenerational impacts of violence. . . . Dualities of beauty and horror, humor and darkness, and memory and truth all knock against each other to reveal the long-lasting effects of war, loss, and silence.”

“Canción brings us into the violence of 1960s Guatemala, not only through the violence of rebels and the government, but through the eyes of a family entwined in the midst of it all.”

“Masterly. . . . A disquieting fantasy of the Kafkian variety.”

“At its core, Halfon’s work is elegiac. . . . Canción portrays the surprises the mind gives as gifts to itself when it is free to speculate and uncover the linkages obscured by grief and time itself.”

“Doubles down on the possibilities that apprehending history can offer us the opportunity to rebuild our world and our relationships.”

“Nicely layered and twisted.”

“Gripping. . . . Lisa Dillman and Daniel Hahn’s translation, completed in consultation with Halfon, gracefully calls attention to Halfon’s insightful depiction of an identity-forming journey.”

“Deeply felt, beautifully expressed essays . . . provide rare insight forged by years of coping with illness.”

“Wonderfully absurd.”

“Continuously surprising and entertaining, offhandedly funny and deconstructive of many forms of social preposterousness.”

“Deftly blurs the line between reality and the absurd. . . . Coincidences are plentiful and may remind American readers of Paul Auster’s mode. Millás tips his cap to his Latin American literary cousins in his fantastical denouement in which he returns to a scene akin to the punishment of Prometheus.”

“Extraordinary. . . . Establish[es] an affinity between fiction and autobiography that unsettles generic divisions.”

“Adina’s writing is incisive and inventive. The energy coursing through her prose is positively contagious. This is not a book to be missed!”

“In this accessible and beautifully written book, Danielsson argues for views diametrically opposite to mine on the nature of intelligence, consciousness, and physical reality—I highly recommend it!”

“Everything impresses in this darkly iridescent, utterly captivating flight.”

“Your Hearts, Your Scars tells of hearts broken and whole, hearts always shared—by families, by lovers, by transplant recipients and their donors. The book’s incisions expose all these beating hearts and the hearts of Adina’s reading public, who can only imagine what this visionary artist would have created next.”

“Danielsson displays a remarkably broad understanding of science and philosophy, and dispenses with false notions about the world in this brief, yet provocative book. I hope it stimulates lots of discussion and debate, as it should. For those who have thought about these issues, there is much of interest here. For those who haven’t, this is a great place to start.”

“This book is so full of life that it’s hard to believe the amazing young woman who wrote it is no longer walking among us. Adina has left an indelible mark on this world. Her extraordinary gifts, her irrepressible spirit, live on.”

“Danielsson is Sweden’s most important public writer on the implications of natural science. His lucid, powerful, passionate, and engaging work advances original arguments of great importance. The World Itself is destined to become a modern classic as it upends many of the received wisdoms about the scientific worldview.”

“Dana Sachs’s vivid, passionate book will shake any faith you once had in international aid organizations. But it will move and inspire you, and bring a lump to your throat, by its portraits of big-hearted women and men from many countries who jumped in to help fellow human beings caught up in one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of our time.”

“Adina Talve-Goodman walked a tightrope, for much of her thirty-one years, between life and death. Perhaps for this reason, Adina embodied life more than any person I’ve ever met. She lit up rooms with pure joy and kindness and, although this phrase is often overused, to know Adina was to love her. I’m grateful this beautiful book exists, so everyone else can know her, too. Adina was a brilliant writer, and these pages are imbued with her exuberance, her sharp humor, and both versions of her spectacular heart.”

“The World Itself offers a bold perspective on mathematics, physics, and the nature of reality. There’s much I agree with and less that I don’t, but Ulf Danielsson, a leading theoretical physicist, proves himself an insightful and patient guide through some of the universe’s deepest mysteries.”

“The narrative of Canción unfolds in an elusive middle ground where heritage becomes porous. . . . [Halfon’s] métier is family: the way we are shaped by it and the way we push back on or move beyond it; how it both supports and limits us. . . . We are who we imagine we are, in other words, which is the faith that sits at the heart of family and literature.”

“An urgent, deeply researched, and tender account of the helpers: refugee crisis volunteers (often formerly displaced) who arrive when those responsible for the chaos have turned their backs. Vital, and often infuriating, it is at once global in scale and absolutely singular. This is a story about the drive to nurture and care for our fellow humans, one that stirs us all.”

“A simply riveting read by Norman Lock—an author with a genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative storytelling style that fully engages the reader from first page to last.”

“Lock’s lyrical prose encompasses themes ranging from American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny to racism.”

“Dana Sachs chronicles what happened in Greece when Middle Eastern refugees and volunteers from around the world converged, imperfectly, often chaotically, but with empathy and generosity in ways that mattered and ways that moved me. Sometimes these impromptu communities fail in the end, but the fact that they succeeded for a time, against the odds, can teach us important lessons.”

“Lock captures the strong personalities of Whitman and Alcott without glossing over their flaws in this fascinating snapshot of history.”

“There is something Bolañoesque about Halfon’s fictions, the way art and violence conspire to distort mythologies both personal and national. . . . The detective novel rubs elbows with the campus novel; tragedy cuts like acid through farce.”

“There are some mind-bending ideas and the philosophical reflections on math and physics are stimulating. . . . This pensive take on physics has much to offer.”

“Immersive. . . . Lock’s uncanny gift for reproducing the literary voices of his narrators goes beyond mere pastiche. This insightful double portrait brings both Whitman and Alcott into sharp focus.”

“A twin tale of two literary luminaries. . . . Lock’s deep knowledge of the time period is evident throughout, his research impeccable, his prose iridescent.”

“A stunning historical novel that brings history and literature together to share a singular perspective on the Civil War.”

“Danielsson takes readers on an odyssey through the width and depth of his field, and it is truly a fascinating journey. Touching on subjects as diverse as evolutionary biology, philosophy, and even popular culture, Danielsson makes his topics both appreciably substantial and approachable.”

“Gripping. . . . Distinctive. . . . A haunting novel that offers candid portraits of literary legends.”

“Engaging and varied. . . . Books like this invite us to direct our curiosities—both as groups and individuals—in useful ways.”

“A unique look at the Civil War. . . . Through his characters’ struggles, Lock ably portrays the concerns of that day—prejudice, the strength of the Union, and America’s position in the world—which still exist in this one.”

“[A] thought-provoking treatment of an array of issues at the frontier of science and philosophy. . . . Well worth our attention.”

“This is fiction of a high caliber. . . . Voices in the Dead House is on the cutting edge of history, providing us with a way to grapple with our evolving sense of the past, as we wonder what is next.”

“[Canción] addresses relevant issues in current discussion about Jewish diaspora, migration, and the armed conflict in Guatemala. . . . The writing is captivating, the characters memorable, the historical scenes evocative, and the overall reading experience enoyable.”

“Adina Talve-Goodman challenges us to think differently about ill bodies, desire and death in the context of her relationship with Judaism. This tender and lyrical book will make you laugh while breaking your heart.”

“Engrossing. . . . Danielsson’s clarity of thought and expression and his use of illuminating literary and historical references are equal to the quality of his writing. Science ‘popularizing’ doesn’t get much more comprehensible, or provocative, than this.”

“[Canción] dissolves every boundary between identity and mask, home and diaspora, past and present. . . . [It is] a short novel that manages the feat of uniting the long and broken lines of history.”

“Benefit is a playful, inventive, and urbane coming-of-almost-middle-age novel that reveals Phillips’ acute eye for understanding insincerity and facetiousness in elite spaces.”

“Nine short stories about Iran’s recent traumas, from the 1953 coup to the Iran-Iraq war. . . . Atmospheric and haunting, Mandanipour deftly incorporates magical realism through the use of animals in his unforgettable appraisal of the human condition.”

“Frederic Tuten’s stories are filled with art, dreams, yearning, and a past that he captures beautifully and deftly and then lets go. The Bar at Twilight is a wonderful, evocative collection.”

“The music of Tuten’s prose speaks to my heart. His inimitable, imaginative, witty, romantic stories continue to haunt me.”

“Highlight[s] the toxicity and ethical gaps that underlie much of modern academia and philanthropy . . . with striking social commentary.”

“Masculinity, filtered through a variety of repressive state and societal apparatuses is on full display. . . . [Mandanipour] offers tiny glimpses of redemption but this is mostly a leopard eat stray dog world. Highly recommended.”

“Incisive. . . . Pulls back the veil on university hierarchies and social privilege.”

“A smart, thoughtful read.”

“Smart and dynamic stories. . . . Textured, intricate, and thought-provoking with a touch of mystery and a pinch of poetry—just what I like from a story collection!”

“Showcase[s] the deep desire to connect.”

“Phillips’s assured debut novel blends a complex journey of personal realizations with insights into the dark side of ambition and power.”

“Vivid. . . . Each of the stories evokes a primal emotional response in some way or another, which makes this a fascinating read.”

“A remarkable writer. . . . At once beautiful and horrific, Mandanipour’s tales reveal a people with dreams, fears and hopes; a culture that is ancient yet struggling to be a part of today’s world.”

“Benefit is a fascinating novel—both a portrait of an industrial empire and revelatory about the elitist greed that often shadows philanthropy. It is also an unnerving glimpse into the impoverishment of academia, as scholars compete for part-time work and paltry salaries.”

“[An] intricately structured novel that will appeal to readers interested in peering through the window of this rarified world.”

“An important satire looking at the world of foundations and fellowships in academia.”

“Heartfelt. . . . No matter whether Tuten is chronicling the creative or romantic lives of his characters, he renders their struggles with a sense of hope.”

“Offers a way to navigate deprivation and privilege in the modern world. . . . Benefit is an exercise of the mind, a delight for the senses, and a cleansing of the intellect.”

“A subtle achievement of the novel is its balancing of social critique with awareness of the shadow aspects of the consciousness through which they are processed and articulated.”

“Benefit is a fascinating twist on the typical campus novel. While most such novels acknowledge the presence of rigorous hierarchies in academia, Phillips adds a sophisticated and intensely sharp critique of how capitalism has weaponized the system of meritocracy.”

“A superb academic novel.”

“[A] telling debut novel of money, power, and friendship. It exposes the hypocrisy of the byzantine inner workings of the reward system of cutthroat academic politics, the fraudulent patina of family-run foundations, and the bitter consequences of toxic relationships.”

“Siobhan Phillips’s portrait of a stalled would-be academic is thrillingly intimate and ambitious in its scope, evoking at turns Rachel Cusk, Lynn Steger Strong’s Want, and Christine Smallwood’s The Life of the Mind. Deadpan and dread-filled, shadowed by the specters of war and late capitalism, Benefit probes both the futility and necessity of intellectual work, all in the wry, wise voice of an uncommonly clear-eyed friend.”

“Altogether subversive. . . . [Mandanipour is] a skilled storyteller with a bent for the quietly macabre and the burdens of those crushed by totalitarian rule.”

“Heady and elegant. . . . The work of a gifted, resourceful writer: an old master.”

“The subtlety of [Tuten’s] storytelling is wonderful.”

“Do you enjoy your short fiction with a heady dose of art and absurdism? Frederic Tuten’s globe-trotting new collection offers plenty of both, providing a dizzying array of locales and imagery that ventures to unexpected places.”

“Scintillating. . . . Tuten dazzles like the best of Jhumpa Lahiri, Alice Munro, and George Saunders. Here, with The Bar at Twilight, he is at the pinnacle of his craft.”

“Tuten has managed to reinvent himself in one stylistically daring work after another. . . . The Bar at Twilight is a sumptuous compendium of fables, pastiches, and stories in late style, all of them trussed up in a distinctively earthy, image-obsessed prose. At once riotous and soulful, saturated by a gentle, well-traveled tristesse, the stories feel both strikingly familiar and markedly fresh.”

“Subtly exultant. . . . The Bar at Twilight solidifies [Tuten’s] reputation as a distinctive, if overlooked, practitioner of literary art.”

“Intoxicating.”

“Tuten’s language is supple, elegant, and wonderfully descriptive. He is also very funny.”

“The Bar at Twilight is [Tuten’s] showcase, revisiting every strand of his bibliography with the benefit of hindsight and at the peak of his powers. . . . [It] is outgoing, lived-in, and gregarious. The word for this is generous.”

“A compelling novel about friendship, education, and purpose, all illustrated through a cast of flawlessly realized characters.”

“Dostoyevskian in their density and black humor, Mandanipour’s stories capture the Iranian experience of constant upheaval in a brilliant translation that allows the English-speaking world to experience this gem of Iranian literature.”

“A smart, razor-sharp exploration of the precarious island of academic life and the cold unforgiving waters that surround it.”

“Engrossing. . . . Tuten’s prose is always vital, often dazzling. . . . The Bar at Twilight is neither normative nor predictable, and it bears the firm impress of the soul.”

“Seasons of Purgatory is a stunning collection of stories about Iran’s traditions, its violent recent history, and how the memory of both influences daily life.”

“While the turmoil and danger of everyday life in Iran are the backdrop, Mandanipour focuses on the personal struggles of the characters and their hardscrabble lives. . . . These haunting, urgent works are as nuanced and provocative as the lives they depict.”

“A scorchingly beautiful collection in elegant, icepick-sharp prose.”

“A must read for lovers of the short story.”

“Stunning. . . . Deserves a much wider readership.”

“Rich with enigma, asking to be read, then read again.”

“Mandanipour respects his reader by esteeming resonance over facile moralism or plot-shock. . . . The psyche in his stories gnaws at an actual world and eludes purgatory for the moment by giving that world an obsessively resonant sound, rendered with a keen ear for urgency and strife by translator Sara Khalili.”

“Enchanting, unnerving, and resonant. . . . The prose is beautiful, the characters feel real, and the situations they find themselves in are haunting.”

“Each mesmerizing story . . . put[s] us into a state of disequilibrium in a way that highlights the complexities of the human experience in the fallout of war and revolution.”

“Bewitching and disorienting. . . . Mandanipour has been compared to Milan Kundera and to the artist M.C. Escher for the way his fictions require the reader to put them together like a puzzle. . . . The stories in Seasons of Purgatory are stunning.”

“Read[s] like dispatches from the front. . . . [Mandanipour] sifts through military conflict, the repression of women, the forbidden graves of the state-executed, and the shattered minds of children. Storytelling and remembering are subversive acts when power benefits from forgetting.”

“Cause for celebration. . . . Mandanipour provides readers with a vivid and idiosyncratic map of [Iran’s] people and places, effortlessly translated by Sara Khalili whose close collaboration with the author is palpable on every gleaming, blade-sharp page.”

“A hauntingly nuanced and provocatively impressive collection.”

“Mandanipour served as a frontline officer in the Iran-Iraq war: a writer’s baptism of fire whose flames light up several stories here. . . . Seasons of Purgatory unites storytelling subtlety with scenes of visceral emotional impact.”

“Reduced to stereotypes of the fragile female mind by narcissistic psychiatrists, [the women’s] inner lives reclaim a new, fuller form in this remarkable book.”

“Gifted violinist and insightful author Natalie Hodges asks some of the most interesting questions I’ve come across in a long while. . . . She manages to explore these matters while weaving in her own experiences with performance anxiety, the pressures of ambition, and difficult family dynamics.”

“My words cannot do this novel justice. What Casey has written is lyrical beauty. . . . Each page teems with the emotional release these women were denied; each page is brilliant ecstasy.”

“A literary triumph that explores time, consciousness, and her own story, Natalie Hodges’s debut left me spellbound.”

“Uncommon Measure is a memoir like no other, and I think it is great for someone’s first memoir or their fiftieth.”

“[A] remarkable memoir of a young violinist’s struggle with performance anxiety, her exploration of music and the science of time, and her path towards creating a life that includes her love of music, even if it doesn’t look the way she originally imagined. . . . I can’t wait for more people to have the transformative experience of reading Uncommon Measure!”

“Uncommon Measure reveals the difficulty of being a concert violinist with severe stage fright. . . . [A] very, very good book.”

“Casey who, in giving [women diagnosed with hysteria] voices and endowing them with a skilled novelist’s lyrical, rhythmic language . . . shows that this 19th-century malady exists on a continuum with martyred saints, burned witches, and today’s chronic fatigue patients.”

“Toma writes beautifully. [Look at Us] is warts-and-all, dark, and unsettling.”

“A stinging yet lyrically sensual feminist exploration. . . . Casey delivers a fascinating historical look at female mental health treatment of long ago—complete with medical documents and illustrations.”

“[Hodges is] a writer with a breathless sense of wonder and a firm commitment to her arts, both literary and musical.”

“Captivating. . . . [Look at Us] looks at the inner working of a marriage and the things that threaten it, including sexual frustrations that can crop up in a monogamous relationship. The ending is unsettling and memorable.”

“This literary novel will appeal to folks who like it a little steamy.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed falling into this memoir of life as a gifted, aspiring violinist and her fascination with the science behind the music.”

“An innovative novel. . . . Soaringly lyrical.”

“Lyrical. . . . Through thorough research and a cutting pen, Casey elevates these women back to their deserved place in history, bringing to life those who were reduced to mere photographs.”

“Riveting. . . . Toma is excellent at looking intensely below the superficial and the unspoken, and his lucid style and cool tone add power to the story. The twists and turns of this contemporary morality play will have readers engrossed.”

“With acute empathy . . . Casey masterfully magnifies the stories of ‘incurable’ women in Paris’s 19th-century Salpêtrière hospital.”

“To say that American Follies involves Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Feast Day of the Cannibals involves Herman Melville, and The Wreckage of Eden involves Emily Dickinson makes for an accurate statement that nevertheless fails utterly to convey the unfettered imagination and narrative energy that drives each novel. In the series’ eighth novel, Tooth of the Covenant, Lock explores the weight of familial legacy, the intersection of individuals with their eras, and the power of storytelling. . . . Lock’s clever voice, shapely prose and shrewd observations help lighten the story’s mood, and the novel’s look at intolerance couldn’t be more timely.”

“Enlightening. . . . Casey’s rich imaginative leaps make for tantalizing and affecting portraits. [City of Incurable Women] defies convention and revels in searing, gorgeous language.”

“An evocative blend of fiction and nonfiction spirited with emotional power and historic significance. . . . Casey has written a triumphant homage to the women of Paris’s Salpêtrière asylum, and her fellow incurables everywhere.”

“Casey’s subtle braiding of suffering and strength is the beating heart of this extraordinary work of imagination. . . . These ‘incurable women’ create complex selves always in motion—full of pain but also power, pleasure, and above all mystery.”

“Approaches psychological boundaries with a boldness and variety rarely seen in contemporary fiction.”

“Investigational and piercing. . . . [Casey] dismantles the facade of cold, medical logic and its dehumanization of women while also creating beautiful poetry.”

“Sensual, terrifying, humorous, and absurd, [City of Incurable Women] portrays many incurable things—namely, the human spirit.”

“Casey’s dedication reads ‘for my fellow incurables’ and this short, enchantingly strange book feels animated by compassion.”

“Hodges is a new, valuable voice in the world of music making and music writing. She moves with elegance from her own experience as a violinist to the scientific underpinnings of her subject: from math, physics, and neurology to quantum mechanics, biology, and entanglement theory. Uncommon Measure is a welcome debut from a wonderfully talented writer.”

“[City of Incurable Women] is poetic rather than polemic, elegantly written and filled with resonant imagery. . . . Affirmative and inspiring, a powerful demonstration of Maud Casey’s artistry.”

“[Look at Us] is frank and unflinching about desire, sexual dysfunction and the gulfs that can separate even the most intimate of partners. . . . A daring effort.”

“An amazing book.”

“In exquisite prose, Casey has built a city inside a book, a city that is a hospital, a museum, a dance, a body in ecstasy just outside the frame. On every page of this achingly beautiful book, Casey brings a wise and feral attention to the so-called incurables of the ‘era of soul science’—Augustine, Louise, Marie, Geneviève, and a chorus of nameless others singing their private beginnings and public ends.”

“There is not a sentence in Hodges’s Uncommon Measure that does not illumine, not a single insight that doesn’t lead on to a still greater one, not a moment that does not open us to wonder. In searching and visionary prose, Hodges comes close to creating a new language, one of continual questioning and delight. This is an exquisite book to be read and reread, a treasure.”

“This book holds truths of all kinds—private, studied, euphoric, libidinal, and unbecoming—each one a revelation.”

“The novel’s somber exploration of American cruelty and religious intolerance is balanced by its nimble prose, sly wit, and engaging glimpse of a literary figure. Lock’s latest ambitious look at America’s history will delight fans of the series and earn new converts.”

“Uncommon Measure is astonishingly assured and inventive. Mixing personal reflection, reportage, literary criticism, music theory, neurology, even evolutionary studies, Hodges has pulled off something singular and wonderful. From the first page to the last, the book rides on the high wire of Hodges’s virtuosic voice. It is shot through with a sinuous, luminous energy.”

“I would follow Maud Casey anywhere. In City of Incurable Women, she has given us her best work yet. This is a song for the forgotten, full of voices that will stay with you and guide you—an astonishing portrayal of rage and hope. What a glorious work of art and what a true gift to us.”

“Look at Us is a scrupulous dissection of a contemporary marriage in mortal peril. It’s also a wild ride of a novel, gorgeously written, by turns comic, lyrical, elegiac, disturbing, and profound. I couldn’t put it down until the startling conclusion, which arrived with such force I gasped. What a vision! Intense and chilling. Not to be missed.”

“Dark and funny. . . . [Iossel’s stories] provide an insider’s take on what it’s like to survive in a terrifying yet absurd reality.”

“A reflective and subtly poignant look at Nathaniel Hawthorne. . . . Lock displays a nimble virtuosity as he captures the speech of the time while demonstrating how the implicit bias, bigotry, and hypocrisy of Puritanism became the cancel culture of its day.”

“Iossel is a genius, a comic visionary in the tradition of Gogol, Keret, Barthelme, and Saunders. Love Like Water, Love Like Fire is a book of surprises and delights.”

“Natalie Hodges is a musician with a poet’s soul and a writer with a musician’s heart. Her prose partita, Uncommon Measure, is an extraordinary translation of music, devotion, and sorrow into the literary, recounting her relinquishment of a performance career and her continued love of music. In these pages, if no longer on the stage, she is brilliantly making us hear.”

“City of Incurable Women is a brilliant exploration of the type of female bodily and psychic pain once commonly diagnosed as hysteria—and the curiously hysterical response to it commonly exhibited by medical men. It is a novel of powerful originality, riveting historical interest, and haunting lyrical beauty.”

“Into the lives of a quiet upper-class professional family in Manhattan comes a new nanny, young Maeve from Ireland: suddenly the air is charged with erotic intensity. The mildness was all illusion: soon our central characters are all wreaking heavy damage upon one another. Toma draws his world with Cheeverian nuance and flair; he’s deeply insightful about the new American culture of ‘watchers’—but to me his greatest skill is his ability to summon pure terror.”

“A distinctive and ambitious foray into literary history.”

“Love Like Water, Love Like Fire is an extraordinary book: funny and profound, moving and provocative. Rarely has life in the former USSR (or anywhere, for that matter) been portrayed with such a rich admixture of soaring observation and finely rendered detail. This is a gorgeously constructed collection by one of our wittiest and most insightful writers.”

“Bold and imaginative. . . . Probing into the dark corners of fear, guilt, and morality, Lock produces something unexpected.”

“Splendid. . . . Lock masters the interplay between nineteenth-century Hawthorne and his fictional surrogate, Isaac, as he travels through Puritan New England. The historical details are immersive and meticulous.”

“Replete with an erudite wit and eloquent wisdom, Love Like Water, Love Like Fire is an extraordinary, thoughtful, and thought-provoking read.”

“Poignant. . . . [Uncommon Measure] makes a valuable contribution to the ever-expanding universe of works addressing science and music.”

“[An] engaging collection. . . . While many stories illuminate the absurdity of Soviet society, Iossel conveys the brutal oppression of the surveillance state most intensely, and hauntingly, in the title story.”

“A dazzling look at memory and the universe. . . . Hodges ponders these puzzles with intellectual depth, unique perspectives, and an artistic, eloquent, and inspiring voice.”

“Hanlon lovingly explores her own stretch of the New England coast and delivers it to the reader through sun and snow. A treat.”

“Exquisitely written.”

“Bridge[s] the time-space continuum in musical terms. . . . A book to savor.”

“A masterful debut memoir from a classical violinist that covers far more than just music. . . . [Hodges’s] writing is deeply intelligent and exquisitely personal, expertly balancing emotional vulnerability with trenchant analysis, and her lyrical prose and clarity of thought render each page a pleasure to read.”

“[A] vibrant collection. . . . With an ear for the clumsiness of Russian bureaucratic nomenclature, an eye for Kafkaesque humiliations, and a heart that embraces all the paradoxes of being a Soviet Jew, Iossel casts a spell over the reader. Reading like Sholem Aleichem updated by Bruce Jay Friedman, these stories reflect the exciting evolution of Russian Jewish literature.”

“Thoughtful and satisfying.”

“Iossel brings his warm, gently ironic authorial voice to bear on the cruel and often surreal lives of Jews in the Soviet Union. . . . ‘There is love like fire, and there is love like water,’ say the Hasidic masters, and Iossel’s collection explores that dichotomy.”

“A splendid read.”

“An expertly written set of stories, often brimming with dark humor, offering many vantage points from which to consider the Soviet experience, and the particular burdens it placed on Jews.”

“Brilliant. . . . [Iossel] has created a style that is as intriguing and richly suggestive as that of his predecessor, Vladimir Nabokov.”

“[Iossel’s] lens is honest and compassionate. If there’s one takeaway from Love Like Water, Love Like Fire, it’s that this compassion may be necessary today more than ever.”

“Iossel is an exception among the writers of his generation. . . . Full of subtle irony and macabre humor, his prose makes such skillful use of American colloquialism that it is as though these stories take place in some fictional Soviet-America.”

“Very funny. . . . In Love like Water, Love like Fire, jokes point to the absurdities and logical contradictions in everyday life. . . . There is something refreshing about Iossel’s willingness to maintain his sense of irony, even about such intractable subjects as anti-Semitism, the ghastliness of Soviet bureaucracy, or the irreconcilability of death with human happiness.”

“A beautiful, lyrical book.”

“The former USSR continues to cast a long shadow on our current affairs, but Mikhail Iossel brings a fresh eye to the region. . . . Engaging equally with the absurdity and brutality of life in a repressive regime, [Love Like Water, Love Like Fire is] perfect for fans of Gogol and George Saunders alike.”

“Korean American violinist Hodges debuts with a literary mosaic of invention, inquiry, and wonder that interrogates classical music, quantum entanglement, the Tiger Mother stereotype, and the fluidity of time. . . . In restrained yet lyrical prose, Hodges . . . offer[s] a luminous meditation on the ways in which art, freedom, and identity intertwine. This impresses at every turn.”

“Uncommon Measure is an uncommon book, both in topic and technique. . . . I couldn’t help falling in love with Natalie Hodges’ bittersweet nostalgia, dry wit, and seductive, ‘backstage pass’ point of view.”

“With carefully wrought lyricism, Hodges provides music history and mature insight.”

“Uncommon Measure is a memoir in essays, but twists the genre by infusing it with neuroscience, physics and intoxicating descriptions of music. . . . Relatable and elegant. . . . An enchanting look into the world of classical music and beyond.”

“This is one those rare books that inspires one to go back time and again to re-read a sentence simply because of the elegance and penetrating insight with which it is written. . . . Unputdownable.”

“Hanlon has written a charming and fun account of her days swimming in and about a salt marsh and has also fashioned a beautiful, contemplative piece of nature writing.”

“Hodges considers the elemental truth pulsating beneath our experience of music and of our very lives.”

“[Uncommon Measure] will resonate with both music and science lovers alike, who will appreciate the bridges Hodges draws between scientific disciplines, music theory and her life.”

“Incandescent.”

“Harrowing, hilarious, dark, and devastating. . . . Iossel’s sentences twist the reader through the illogical forces of dictatorship, childhood, puberty, survival, and writing angsty poetry in a communist regime.”

“Uncommon and genre-defying.”

“Hodges undertakes a captivating study of the science of time—physics and music—in this very special memoir that defies categorization.”

“What distinguishes Iossel as a writer, aside from his obvious talent for atmospheric dramedy, is his lucid, musical prose style. . . . Iossel’s marvelous sense of rhythm dazzles the reader. We can’t stop turning the pages of this book.”

“[Hanlon] is as skilled at demystifying complex scientific concepts as she is in portraying gold-spangled waterline sunsets and muted winter compositions of marsh grasses. The whole is enriched with personal reflections on raising a family, aging, and the changing nature of marriage.”

“Graceful in its descriptive power. . . . Hanlon understands how our moral imagination exerts a profound influence on our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. . . . [Her] observations are as gently propulsive as the rhythmic stroke of a swim fin.”

“In her charming debut . . . [Hanlon] turns the quotidian details of marriage and family life into a lyrical investigation of ‘something bigger and more complex than oneself.’ . . . Merging leisurely seaside adventure with ecological sensibilities, Hanlon delivers a lyrical ode to a changing environment.”

“A captivating, adroit climate dispatch from Gloucester, Mass. that views the crisis of global warming through a local lens.”

“Part how-to guide, part nature journal, part ecological call to action, this book inspires the reader to take a closer look at the everyday cycles in their own backyards.”

“Incredible. . . . Jerome Charyn is a great writer.”

“Hanlon, in a year of swimming her way through marshes, across tidal rivers and sculpted granite quarries unique to Cape Ann, observes with a remarkably steady gaze all the world has to offer—the beauty and losses both. In clear, spare prose and fine-tuned observation, she takes you on a journey you won’t soon forget.”

“There is nothing quite so wonderful as slipping into a creek and letting it carry you upstream until the tide imperceptibly turns and carries you back out toward the ocean. It is doubly wonderful to discover someone who describes this experience with such love, lyricism, and scientific curiosity. Let Hanlon be your guide to this world.”

“Hanlon’s narrative—spare and serene—flows to the rhythms of rising and falling water. Her account, rooted in the particular—nose level in a saltwater creek under the cerulean skies of an idyllic summer, or in icy slush on a dark winter night—is a timely call to consider the tragedies and possibilities of our moment.”

“Written with a swimmer’s spirit, a naturalist’s eye, and an ecologist’s heart, this book took me to places I have never been. I loved it!”

“Sergeant Salinger is a gift for anyone who would like to know more about the author who made Holden Caulfield a classroom name. . . . If you feel about Salinger as I do, I hope you will visit the pages of this insightful novel if for no other reason than to enjoy a great story.”

“Like Wendell Berry and Rachel Carson, Hanlon is a true poet-ecologist, sharing in exquisitely resonant prose her patient observations of nature’s most intimate details. As she and her husband, through summer and snow, swim their local creeks and estuaries, we marvel at the timeless yet fragile terrain of both marshlands and marriage. This is the book to awaken all of us, right now, to how our coastline is changing and what it means for our future.”

“An in depth look at one of our most celebrated of writers. . . . Charyn answers the question of how it was meant to be for Salinger to write that novel that unwittingly summoned the world.”

“Charyn peers into the traumas that formed the lifelong recluse and his enigmatic stories. . . . The whole story makes for an engaging and informative rendering of an important American author.”

“Nuanced and acutely perceptive. . . . Charyn offers an astute psychological portrait of an elusive yet vastly compelling subject.”

“Charyn deftly leaves the reader wondering whether Holden Caulfield’s teenage angst was really Salinger’s personification of post-traumatic stress disorder. . . . Engrossing.”

“This supremely engaging novel leaves us with a new, sometimes heart-rending understanding of [J.D. Salinger] and the times in which he came of age.”

“Intense and absorbing.”

“Charyn wisely avoids the biographical novel’s penchant for the blow-by-blow, scene-by-scene recounting of all the important moments in the subject’s life. Instead we are immersed in the immediacy of war as Salinger . . . has to psyche out the phonies and somehow remain true to himself.”

“Two intriguing suggestions are buried deeply in the story that Charyn tells so compellingly in Sergeant Salinger. One is that Salinger could have but chose not to write one of the great war novels of the twentieth century. (In a real sense, Charyn has done it for him.) The other is that Salinger’s experience of war drove him to explore only the inner lives of the characters he invented and to hide his own inner life from the generations of readers who revere him.”

“Wonderfully recreates the war years of J. D. Salinger. . . . If you are looking for a more nuanced war novel, a story of World War II and what it did to the young men forced to fight it, this is the book for you.”

“A bravura slice of creative reconstruction. . . . Charyn triumphantly adds to the wealth of historical war fiction, while exercising his right as a fiction author to rewrite our understanding of another.”

“A masterly portrait of a young man’s terrible war.”

“[A] literary tour de force. . . . Charyn vividly portrays [J.D. Salinger’s] journey from slick short story writer to suffering artist. The winning result humanizes a legend.”

“I loved [Her Here]. . . . You get caught up in the book very easily.”

“The protagonist of Modick’s quietly stunning novel is a renowned botanist who only in the last nine months of his long life truly understands the lessons of his obsession. . . . Presented as an addendum to the professor’s magnum opus, this diary-like narrative operates with the slow power and lyricism of true discovery.”

“Beautiful debut about relationships between mothers and daughters, the intersection and fragmentary natures of memory and identity. Dennis’s writing is impressive—both precise and empathetic.”

“Her Here is a stunning debut from author Amanda Dennis. I was brought to the very edge of my sanity right along with the protagonist, Elena. The women in this story are complex and the ways their stories interconnect even more so. There were so many twists and turns I don’t think I accurately predicted even one plot development. It was suspenseful, raw, and every word absolutely crackled with intensity. Fans of Gillian Flynn take notice!”

“Thoughtful and thought-provoking.”

“Dazzling. Dennis is a writer that awakens the senses. From the first page, this gorgeous, haunting story about two lost girls ensnares the reader with such expertise, such intelligence and heart, that before long you’re lost inside the eerie sensuality of youthful dreams, witnessing obsession unravel identity.”

“In Her Here, Dennis has written a metaphysical investigation that is also a wonderfully personal account of a daughter coming to terms with the loss of her mother, and a mother coming to terms with the loss of her daughter. As Elena conjures Ella’s last days, the richly imagined narrative moves back and forth between Paris and Thailand, carrying both characters and readers to a vivid and suspenseful conclusion.”

“Evocative and meditative, Her Here is a ghost story without a ghost, a marvel of incantatory wit. Dennis weaves a mesmerizing web around her subject, drawing the reader into an intricate, volatile mystery whose end is always and never within reach.”

“Amanda Dennis is in possession of hypnotic narrative gifts and a ferocious intellect. With Her Here, she has claimed her place in the literary world.”

“A graceful, thought-provoking portrait of memory and mortality.”

“[Moss] taps into a host of humanitarian and ecological concerns, even as it reminds the reader of the complex web of connections humans dwell within.”

“A powerful exercise in eco-fiction. . . . Modick’s writing, at its best, presents the ‘mossifcation’ of the mind, combining clinical observation with philosophical lyricism.”

“[Moss] opens with the death of a renowned botanist, whose . . . hypnotic reflections and biographical recollections disavow the ‘botanist’s penetrating gaze’—its ‘classifications without real knowledge’—to arrive at a rejuvenating, anarchic conception of the natural world.”

“A masterful examination of internal conflict, gratifying for readers inspired by ecofiction and literary theory. . . . Inner explorations transform into a Weltanschauung of epiphany and new understanding of love, death, and the natural world.”

“Dennis’ sensory prose leads to a fascinating exploration of identity, grief, and time.”

“Wrenching and revelatory.”

“Brings to life the two suffragists, Anthony and Stanton. . . . A thoroughly worthwhile read.”

“Dennis’s elegant yet propulsive debut becomes much more than a missing-persons search. . . . Elena’s narrative-within-a-narrative nicely reveals the creative process, while Dennis’s larger story confirms the value of living boldly.”

“Superbly crafted. . . . Absorbing and memorable.”

“Amateur mycologists rejoice, we finally have our own Orchid Thief and it’s weird as hell.”

“Bewildering and unsettling. . . . This is the sort of book that will transform completely behind your back from one reading to the next.”

“Strange and glorious. . . . This slim novel is a challenging, thought-provoking adventure, perfect for fans of Haruki Murakami and Franz Kafka.”

“A set of eleven stories from Catalan author Jordi Nopca, Come On Up is a solid collection of short fiction centered amidst our modern moment of frustrated ambitions, declining opportunity, and the 21^st century paradox of unlimited choices and meaningless decisions. Nopca’s tales, situated in his hometown Barcelona, focus mostly on couples and interpersonal relationships, many with a deliciously absurdist bent. A caustic, sly humor and sardonic social malaise pervade Come On Up, but never in a disaffected, indifferent way—on the contrary, there’s a liveliness to all the listlessness. Also an award-winning journalist, Nopca’s storytelling and sharp wit are each remarkably entertaining. Come On Up employs a verve that is simultaneously of the times and contrary to its darker, deleterious impulses.”

“Lock nimbly explores race, gender, and identity through a historical lens while displaying a joyous love of language.”

“Raucous, fantastical. . . . [An] imaginative exploration of late-19th-century America’s cultural tensions.”

“Wry yet tender, Nopca’s stories are a chronicle of the sentimental and existential doubts of Barcelona’s struggling younger generation—just trust me: read them.”

“Dark, carnivalesque. . . . American Follies features lavish period details and unsettling alternative world building, warping expectations and standing out for its rapier wit.”

“The day will come when there’ll be no need to keep repeating how Nopca’s talent and his corrosive humor have exploded and electrified the literature of Spain: it will be common knowledge.”

“Jordi Nopca’s stories, written with clarity and flair, are smart and modern, filled with sharply observed detail. They capture the unease of the times and the flux of contemporary life in Barcelona with wit, wisdom, moments of pure hilarity, and a mixture of sympathy and dark laughter.”

“A thrilling, unnerving portrait of 19^th-century America. . . . One part novel of ideas, one part madcap adventure.”

“All of the stories make noise, and some of them really take off.”

“[Come On Up] movingly illustrate[s] the human shame of financial insecurity, with multidimensional characters that give life to sterile government jobless reports.”

“Ranging from the mysterious mushroom known by the name of Aseroë to Giorgione’s painting The Tempest, while meditating on the millions made off the work of Rimbaud, [Aseroë] offers a series of astonishing and detailed variations on the theme of the figures of forgetfulness.”

“Ragtime in a fever dream. . . . When you mix 19th-century racists, feminists, misogynists, freaks, and a flim-flam man, the spectacle that results might bear resemblance to the contemporary United States.”

“A young woman has disappeared, and her mother asks a dead friend’s daughter to reconstruct the young woman’s life from her diaries, in the hopes of stumbling on clues to where she may be. It’s a premise that would be a stretch for any novelist, but in her experimental debut Amanda Dennis wields that stretch the way a candymaker pulls and thickens ropes of sugar on hooks.”

“These short stories chronicle the romantic, intellectual, and economic frustrations of disparate characters. . . . From intellectual satire to slapstick comedy, [Come On Up] covers plenty of emotional terrain.”

“Delightfully witty, insightful, and masterfully told.”

“A book filled to the gills with a veritable feast of literary ingredients. To read Aseroë is to experience a kind of inebriation as we drink in the intelligence and the talent of its author.”

“[An] enigmatic and radiant book.”

“In this book oblivion is daylight.”

“An immensely pleasurable read.”

“This over-the-top, extraordinary novel, in its no less stupendous translation, begins with a mycological intimacy that brings to mind the great mushroom scenes of the film Phantom Thread. How not to be aroused by this whopping treat of verbal virtuosity?”

“[Nopca’s] stories skillfully traverse decadence and depravity, splendor and squalor, the tragic and the comic, the boring and the absurd.”

“What a wonderful piece of writing! What an exhilarating adventure! What a madcap exploration of mushrooms, paintings, Rimbaud, the legend of Orpheus, and the mazes of a poet’s mind, in a jigsaw puzzle of a book that ultimately (like Alice’s Wonderland) makes absolute sense!”

“Provocative, funny and sobering.”

“Spellbinding. . . . Wholly engrossing. . . . This hypnotic and deeply cerebral exploration is a seductive escape. Through Ella and Elena’s efforts to reconstruct a sense of self—outside family, beyond academia and expectation—through language, Dennis confronts the various ways we try to understand ourselves and others.”

“Filled with caustic wit and pointed satire . . . [Come On Up] paints a sympathetic portrait of people trying to adapt to the instability that defines their ‘new normal’.”

“Full of wonder. . . . Aseroë is a lyrical contemplation of how words affect reality.”

“Fiercely original.”

“In Lethem’s witty translation from Catalan, the 11 stories [of Come On Up] are heartbreaking and hilarious, tender and violent.”

“A singular novel. Aseroë’s storyteller speaks from within the grasp of mysterious and urgent preoccupations. Yet his confident narration, rich in colorful, familiar detail, and sensitively and gracefully rendered into English by master translator Richard Sieburth, assures us of his obsessions’ importance to him and, within his brilliant and bizarrely convincing world, increasingly to us.”

“Charyn conjures up a narrative punctuated with powerful imagery. . . . In a novel full of its share of the grotesque, it takes an artist with a precise touch such as Charyn to achieve such artful results.”

“Deftly written and original. . . . Unreservedly recommended.”

“Charyn has created a terrific cast of original characters who speak in a language that reflects the selfish and predatory nature of that time. . . . He tells a fascinating story of resistance against evil with a great deal of energy.”

“A complex and detailed story of the inner workings of the German Third Reich during World War II. . . . Highly recommended.”

“[Charyn’s] taut story line is full of surreal visuals and elaborate illusions.”

“[An] edgy, hallucinatory, full-throttle fable.”

“Spectacular. . . . This extraordinary tour de force showcases [Charyn] at the top of his game.”

“Darkly resonant. . . . [A] convention-upturning tour de force.”

“A breakneck adventure. . . . It’s a dark art to make a subject this grotesque quite this much fun.”

“Charyn’s blunt, brilliantly crafted prose bubbles with the pleasure of nailing life to the page in just the right words. Cesare is by no means lightweight fare, but it’s provocative, stimulating and deeply satisfying.”

“Reading The Bear will bring you back to the wonder-filled stories of childhood, the sort that linger, that alter our understanding of the world, that shape who we become. Such is the simple and profound power of Andrew Krivak’s unexpectedly hopeful novel. Crafted with as much care and mastery as the finest oaken bow, this is a book that manages to be both timeless and urgent, clear-eyed and tender-hearted, archetypal and unconventional: a bedtime tale told by a prophet. A wonder in itself.”

“A tight yet expansive novel in prose so vivid you forget these are words and not the cedar, trout, and stones of a post-Anthropocene Earth. Through the middle of The Bear walks an unnamed girl whose determination to go on living will fill you with awe.”

“In spare and lovely prose, Andrew Krivak folds the deep past and the far future into a remarkable fable about our inheritance as humanity makes a harmonic return to the spirit and animal worlds. This book follows you, like a river under ice.”

“If you liked the isolation, survival, and life-learning lessons of Where the Crawdads Sing, The Bear is a great read.”

“This book combines the elegiac, hauntingly spare prose of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road with the vivid nature writing of Jack London, plus a dash of magical realism. . . . The writing is beautifully evocative, through each season and habitat.”

“Very beautiful. . . . As harrowing as The Martian. . . . In these kind of scary, uncertain times, not only do you get tips for survival, but . . . ultimately this feeling of hope for how humans might complete the circle of their existence on Earth.”

“A wondrous take on love, loss and the natural world.”

“Hauntingly beautiful, written in a poetic style, I highly recommend The Bear.”

“Like a prismatic series of artist’s sketches, Pain Studies offers a dazzling variety of perspectives—personal, political, phenomenological, lyrical—on the unanswerable question of human suffering. Through virtuosic readings of everything from pre-Socratic philosophy to the trial transcripts of Joan of Arc to the cultural semiotics of House M.D., Lisa Olstein brilliantly extends the literature of pain into our contemporary historical moment. But this searching work also illuminates how pain studies us. Turning the last page on Olstein’s agonistic anatomy, we’ve come to know one of hurt’s intimate acquaintances, unbroken by her suffering, or if broken in parts, then painstakingly remade.”

“I ended up reading this in one sitting because I enjoyed it so much. . . . The words were simple and honest, but the picture they painted was delightful.”

“In Pain Studies, Lisa Olstein paints a sharp-witted and insightful picture of the rollercoaster ride that is called pain. Her own experiences allow her to approach the topic in a way that provides relevant reading to anyone treating or living with chronic pain. As doctors, we need to find more effective ways to help patients dealing with pain. This book is a step in that direction.”

“This was a book that really makes you think about the future and the choices that we as humans are making today.”

“This adult fable touches on themes of family, the environment, the struggle for survival, and the need for harmony with nature. I enjoyed meeting the Bear, the Puma, and the fierce unnamed female narrator who was stronger than I could ever imagine. This one is compelling.”

“Lisa Olstein offers readers an eclectic and deeply personal set of meditations on pain as experienced and remembered, inflicted and endured, perceived and denied. Through neuroscience, literature, and history, from hit TV shows to classical philosophy, this is a unique and fascinating contribution to the literature of pain in general, and migraine in particular.”

“Stunning. . . . Krivak gives us a startling view of the future; of being alone and trying to understand a world that no longer exists.”

“Profound and unforgettable. . . . Beautifully demonstrates the enduring strength and sensibility of the natural world.”

“Add me to those who loved The Bear by Andrew Krivak. This is one of those books that seems simplistic at first and then completely draws you in to its world.”

“Not only a thought provoking read, [The Bear] serves as a potential origin story for a future full of limitless possibilities in which man is no longer a dominate force. A must read for grown-up fans of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.”

“Pain Studies takes a good long look at how bodies (human ones) experience and manage the wide spectrum of pain and discomfort. . . . A very fun and fast-paced read.”

“This beautiful book about survival and community moved me deeply.”

“Lovers of language take note: the act of reading this book is truly an experience.”

“[Olstein’s] words carve out fissures of understanding and deep, familiar meaning in what it means to have chronic pain—that there is meaning in it.”

“Refreshing. . . . A simple story written with an unflinching but compassionate voice, Krivak’s tale should be thoughtfully savored while it slowly winds its way into your moral conscience.”

“Gorgeous prose and luscious descriptions of the natural world. Krivak reminds us of our own frailty and the fierce bond between human and animal.”

“Unique, remarkable, and beautiful.”

“A book to savor.”

“Heartbreaking. . . . It has been nearly two months since I finished The Bear and I’m still ruminating on its melancholy yet somehow hopeful ode to the beauty the natural world has to offer.”

“[There are] six splendid stand-alone novels in Norman Lock’s The American Novels series. . . . Feast Day of the Cannibals is the latest book in the series. . . . As in his previous novels, Lock both presents an engrossing storyline and a vivid sense of life in late 19^th-century Manhattan.”

“Olstein writes with eloquence and power. . . . To someone living with chronic pain, this book is pure catharsis, a warm voice in an endless tunnel of dark saying ‘I hear you. I understand you.’ To anyone else, this book is the first step toward empathy. Pain Studies must be read by all.”

“Very enjoyable.”

“Transcendent. . . . Simply amazing.”

“Krivak definitely has a gift for unique stories and I know my patrons will really enjoy his work.”

“A truly moving story laced with a delicate insight into both the fragility and resilience of mankind.”

“Immerses the reader in nature and explores man’s relationship with the surrounding life.”

“This book reminded me to marvel at nature and its raw and innate strength. And to also marvel at the tenacity of the human spirit and how we are all shaped by our world and our experience.”

“Lyrical. . . . By the end of the novel, the reader is led to accept particularly difficult aspects of the novel’s reality that overlap with our own—that the world will endure without us, that natural cycles of birth and death will continue, and that human intelligence is not the only kind to have a lasting impact on the life of the planet.”

“A young girl and her father live alone in a mountain forest that fronts a lake in a devastated world. She learns from him how to live off the land, hunting for food, and finding shelter. The Bear is the moving story of a journey they make together to the ocean, and the bear who helps her find her way back home. For fans of The Dogs Stars (Heller) and The Road (McCarthy).”

“A stunningly quiet, simple, and perfect book.”

“One of the best reads I’ve had in a long time.”

“Krivak’s little gem of a book has some of the lushest, loveliest nature writing you’ll ever read, but in addition to that, it has the timeless feel of a fable. . . . I never knew that a tale about humanity’s end days could be so quietly powerful, and leave me with a sense of peace and optimism.”

“This is humanity at its purest form—a primal love story to our place among the wild things. Stark and beautiful.”

“This was such an interesting book. Not very long, but the way the prose felt slow and meaningful pulled me in and made me slow down to read it. . . . When I finished, I felt like I’d had an experience, not just read a book.”

“Flora and fauna further a companionless young woman’s education in survival in The Bear. I fought tears throughout the girl’s journey: her story is THAT BEAUTIFUL!.”

“This book is majestic! A beautiful and poignant tribute to nature and the resiliency of the spirit.”

“Read The Bear to be transformed.”

“Beautiful, poignant and magical. . . . I loved and savored every single word.”

“A lovely, emotional tale.”

“A modern day fable with lessons on how to reconnect with the natural world. . . . Precise and beautiful.”

“An exquisite tale of all living things existing in beautiful balance and has one of the most perfect endings of any book I’ve read.”

“Both timeless and of the moment, this moving, elegant fable for adults is the perfect antidote to our fast-paced, anxious lives. . . . A transcendent, luminous book that will stay with you.”

“The Bear is a beautifully written modern fable. . . . It feels both timeless and very much of our time, as it plays on anxieties about climate change and the end of human civilization.”

“Poetically written. . . . This book takes a bleak and played-out genre and gives it a new twist. An immersive story not quite about the end-times, but about new beginnings.”

“Incredible.”

“Creepy and completely immersive. I couldn’t help but become an audience member in the narrator’s fantasy world.”

“The more time I spend thinking about [The Bear], the more astonished I am at just how damn good it is.”

“Achingly beautiful.”

“A story anyone can connect with.”

“Ancient in its rhythm and content, Andrew Krivak’s The Bear reads as a folktale from an entirely possible, fast-approaching future. The lives that may very well be lived by the last of us are lyrically and lovingly articulated across these pages.”

“[The Bear] should have a permanent spot on your shelf.”

“Tender and lyrical, beautifully descriptive and with just enough suspense to temper the story, The Bear is divine.”

“I read some wonderful books this year, but this fable . . . is something my mind returned to over and over. It is a small, beautiful book.”

“Thoughtful and thought-provoking.”

“Sad and beautiful and hopeful all at the same time. . . . I love the philosophical take on how humans fit into nature.”

“Krivak’s nature writing is simply divine. This lyrical fable has a few white-knuckled moments, but it’s the story’s tender spirituality that kept me up reading through the night.”

“A slow-burning tale of repression and sublimation, a work that tells a tale of obsession and the violence that ensues.”

“Erudite. . . . Olstein’s blending of the personal and the academic is compelling. . . . A quality addition to the literature on pain.”

“What a balm to read a book so lovely that moves at a measured pace in this fast-paced age. . . . This is a book that takes the reader to heart: a story to be savored, a grace to be received.”

“An irresistible—and utterly strange—experience. A novel you must read to believe.”

“While Moby-Dick is often referenced by the characters, it’s Billy Budd, a later work of Melville’s, that’s alluded to thematically, as Lock addresses questions of desire and repression, both personal and societal. . . . [Feast Day of the Cannibals] memorably provides a window into old New York and its narrator’s conflicted mind.”

“A sparsely told story that leaves you questioning whether we are more than just our memories.”

“Krivak writes so poetically, despite the many sad moments in the story, reading it was a relaxing escape.”

“I could not put down The Bear. Although an easy read, the masterful storytelling of Andrew Krivak challenges readers with ideas of survival and adventure amidst loss. . . . A simply beautiful read.”

“This slim novel is part adventure story, part fantasy and part love story to the world of nature.”

“Beautifully written. . . . [The Bear] is a fable that will move into your heart as well as your mind, and stay there forever.”

“Beautiful. . . . Will grab you and not let go.”

“The Bear is a beautiful throwback to folk tales and fairy tales, while at the same time paying tribute to the dystopian books of today.”

“Fascinating. . . . [Pain Studies] succeeds in delivering an intriguing look at a set of questions with wide relevance.”

“An essential novel for our times, The Bear encapsulates the essence of isolation and our connection to the natural world.”

“Part starkly real survival story, part dream-like fable: I devoured this in one sitting.”

“A beautiful elegy on the transience of life. . . . The Bear will transport you to another time and place and make you feel the simple beauty of being alive.”

“This is as close to a perfect novel as I’ve read. . . . Krivak is working with the care and atmosphere of Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams and the dire sentimentality of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, but is tuned to a higher and more eternal frequency. I will treasure The Bear, and am so glad it exists to counterbalance these futile, furious times.”

“Widely relatable and deeply moving.”

“This timely, emotional fable about the dual powers of nature and human endurance is profound in its simplicity. Like all the best fables, the wisdom of Krivak’s tale lingered long after we finished it.”

“In a world drowning in careless excess, The Bear suggests another way, and the rewards are great.”

“As heartwarming as a novel about the end of the world can get. . . . The Bear is a beautiful and breathtakingly sad cautionary tale about a future that’s becoming ever more believable.”

“This is a novel that can change perceptions of the Earth and our place in it.”

“Grabs readers’ attention, even those without a history of chronic illness. . . . Its analysis spans multiple perspectives and includes Olstein’s sincere recollections, making this extended lyrical essay shine.”

“Uplifting and beautiful, Krivak has written a gem of a fable; a portrait of survival that comes full circle.”

“Infused with compassion and hope. . . . Krivak’s prose fills the reader with awe for the greatness of nature.”

“A dreamy, poetic novel that imagines a (nearly) humanless Earth as a thing of beauty.”

“A lovely, unforgettable experience.”

“Engrossing and elegant, Feast Day of the Cannibals captures America’s kaleidoscopic spirit during a tumultuous, rapacious era.”

“The power of a classic myth. . . . Krivak’s lyrical tribute to the natural world and the necessity for humans to coexist with it is an essential message cloaked within an allegory of haunting beauty.”