January 7
Publishers Weekly on Elizabeth Benedict’s What My Mother Gave Me
“Each essay is beautifully crafted, and editor Benedict provides the perfect balance of emotions. For anyone trying to understand mother-daughter relationships, this collection provides the answer.”
January 6
The St. Louis Post Dispatch on Jeff Backhaus’s Hikikomori and the Rental Sister
“[Hikikomori and the Rental Sister] is written deeply, cleanly, sparely and gently, like fingers playing over the strings of a harp. Jeff Backhaus has apparently worked at many jobs, but it seems that he has now found his vocation.”
January 5
The NY Post on Jeff Backhaus’s Hikikomori and the Rental Sister
“This debut novel from Backhaus takes place in New York City, but aside from some references to a bus line here or a bodega there, it could almost be anywhere. That’s because Thomas Tessler has basically locked himself in his room for the past three years (a phenomenon in Japan called hikikomori) after his son’s death. His desperate wife, who shares the apartment but never sees him, hires a “rental sister” (another import from Japan) to try to snap him out of it. When they become intimate, his wife needs to decide if it’s all worth it.”
December 7
The Wall Street Journal on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“Allow me to add my voice to the chorus of praise that has greeted The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving . . . grimly hilarious . . . the novel culminates with a classic road trip across the American West. Mr. Evison injects a wonderful amount of feeling into those empty highways and dingy rest stops.”
December 1
Julia Pandl, author of Memoir of the Sunday Brunch, in an essay on The Huffington Post about brunch essentials.
November 28
The Washington Post on Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants
“A bighearted, big-boned story about a young man’s entanglement with celebrities…Life Among Giants reads like something written by a kinder, gentler John Irving.”
November 27
The Dayton City Paper on Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants
“Life Among Giants brings a diverse array of emotions with its mystery, suspense, love, spirit and at times humor- this novel is a must read.”
November 19
Bloomburg News on Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants
“[An] eventful, elegiac novel of sports and murder, food and finance.”
November 18
The Wilmington Star News on Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants
“A rollicking, often funny, occasionally bawdy and sometimes heartbreaking novel.”
November 17
The Boston Globe on Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants
“Part thriller, part family drama, Life Among Giants is deliciously strange and deeply affecting.”
November 12
Concord Monitor on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“The Art Forger kept me up late wondering what would happen to Claire Roth, the deliciously complicated character at the center of this literary thriller… vivid and entertaining, illuminating the mysterious and rarified art world and how human nature – particularly a desire to protect one’s reputation – can overwhelm logic, professionalism and even morality.”
November 11
Florida Times Union on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“A page-turning mystery.”
Tampa Bay Times on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“A well-crafted, plot-driven novel which makes it a good read and one that, for all its insider art world information, will appeal to a broad audience. The details of forging an old masterpiece are fascinating…I thoroughly enjoyed The Art Forger. I only wish it were true, with one of the stolen paintings found and restored.”
November 10
Minneapolis Star-Tribune on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“[An] intelligent, cleverly plotted page-turner… Shapiro’s prose exudes the confidence and vitality of an Old Master’s brush strokes in this engaging, literate thriller.”
November 9
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Julia Pandl’s Memoir of the Sunday Brunch
“While taking pancake orders at the Sunday brunch at George Pandl’s Restaurant in Bayside, she also absorbed a lesson that is helping her sell copies of her book today. ‘My dad used to say the restaurant business is nickels and dimes,’ Pandl said. ‘I think (selling) books is one at a time.’”
October 28
New York Daily News on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“Engrossing.”
October 26
USA Today on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“The Art Forger is the real thing.”
Naples Daily News on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“[The Art Forger] is going to be a big hit this season and for some time to come. There is much here to discuss. Book groups rejoice. You have a masterpiece to use with this one.”
October 25
Connecticut Post interviews B.A. Shapiro, author of The Art Forger
“One of the sleeper hits of the season.”
October 21
Washington Post on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“Shapiro’s depiction of the politics and personal rivalries of the art world adds considerable depth here, and her accounts of the history of forging and of the technical processes that fool authenticators prove precise and exciting… Readers seeking an engaging novel about artists and art scandals will find The Art Forger rewarding for its skillful balance of brisk plotting, significant emotional depth and a multi-layered narration rich with a sense of moral consequence.”
October 10
Maximum Shelf on B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger
“All the threads now start to intertwine as Shapiro deftly takes on the role of magician, dazzling us with ingenious slights of hand and a narrative juggling act. Watching her bring all the pieces together makes for an exciting and very pleasurable read. If you love art, a mystery, and a tale of unrequited love, this tale is for you.”
CNN.com interviews Donia Bijan, author of Maman’s Homesick Pie
October 8
New Yorker on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“An entertaining picaresque and a moving story of redemption.”
October 4
Shelf Awareness features Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
October 3
Steven Wolf, author of Comet’s Tale, in an essay on The Huffington Post about Greyhound Adoption
October 1
The A.V. Club on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“Evison can be funny like nobody else, about things few other writers would risk laughing about.”
September 18
Washington Post on Bob Tarte’s Kitty Cornered
“Cat lovers will enjoy this tale from a kindred spirit.”
September 14
Amazon interviews Jonathan Evison, author of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
The Daily Beast on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“Evison again evinces a belief in healing and reclamation, recovery and renewal, through America’s big open spaces. In the process of unspooling the circumstances behind Ben’s pain, he pens urgent chapters about mortality, and about carrying on when life has its foot on your throat.”
September 13
Barnes & Noble Review on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“Evison has penned a raucous and tender paean to hope, a charming comedy of the not-well-mannered.”
September 12
Washington Post on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“[A] bittersweet novel…it’s moving and funny, and, my God, how refreshing it is to read a story about someone caring for a disabled person that isn’t gauzed in sentimentality or bitterness…his plaintive sense of humor had me alternately chuckling and wiping my eyes through much of his book.”
September 10
Publishers Weekly on Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants
“[A] thrilling indulgence, a tale of opulence, love triangles, and madness, set against a sumptuous landscape of lust and feasts . . . This is a purely Gatsbyesque portrayal of celebrity; David and Sylphide inhabit a galaxy of stars, each more blinding and destructive than the next, drawing intrigue and violence into their orbits.”
September 8
St. Paul Pioneer Press on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is funny, humane and a lot of fun.”
September 7
New York Times Book Review on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“As this carload of misfits moves east, relationships are broken and forged, and Ben recreates a kind of family. This could be horribly clichéd and yet it isn’t, because Evison never bows to what we expect from happy endings.”
September 2
Seattle Times on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving deals with sorrow and disability and all the things that can go wrong in life. But mostly Evison has given us a salty-sweet story about absorbing those hits and taking a risk to reach beyond them. What a great ride.”
August 28
Jennifer Weiner on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“[A] heartbreaking, maddening novel… Evison can be a skillful, compassionate writer who effortlessly evokes a range of characters, from Trevor’s no-nonsense mother to Ben’s terminally furious ex… the relationship between Ben and Trevor blossoms into a thing of strange beauty.”
August 27
New York Times on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“Yet Ben’s generosity, one of the book’s most appealing attributes, makes him welcome strangers into his new, impromptu family… Even the book’s potentially cute detours — to the kitschiest tourist attractions in the American West — turn out to have real resonance.”
CultureMob interviews Jonathan Evison, author of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving – a novel – is Evison’s third book, and in many ways it’s his most intimate and personal to date. It’s still laced with the wit and energy that have become his trademarks, of course – but along the way it takes an up-close look at tragedy, loss, guilt, and ultimately redemption.”
CBS News features Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
August 26
USA Today features Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
August 25
Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“An unlikely and funny buddy book…the comic novel may be the hardest work of fiction to pull off well…The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is a showcase of what makes a good one tick: Characters just a touch disconnected from reality, a prevailing sense of life’s absurdity and a handful of rude jokes…Evison proves that some of the best comedy emerges from lives that have jumped the rails.”
The Oregonian on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“Sometimes funny, sometimes slapstick, big-hearted novel…We readers want to go along for the ride, to follow the detours and adventures, to encounter new people, and Evison’s novel delivers.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“A warm, funny look at recovering from tragedy.”
August 24
Boston Globe on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“Evison’s prose is replete with his gifts for witty imagery and turns of phrase…With its extremely cinematic plot and collection of quirky scenes, the novel might remind you of “Little Miss Sunshine” meets “Rain Man”…The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is even-keeled, big-hearted, and very funny, and full of hope. Through Ben, missteps are made, and human foibles are exposed. But we also glimpse that distant shore of hard-earned redemption. For that, Evison’s novel is worth the voyage.”
August 21
LA Weekly on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving (“Book of the Week”)
“Smart and bittersweet and attuned to the absurdity of life — Evison’s book is the literary version of a good grunge song, not a power rock ballad.”
August 18
The Missourian on Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“A cathartic novel that will leave readers breathing a heavy sigh of pleasurable release. Its offensive at times, witty, funny, and an excellent example of modern realism….Evison offers readers bittersweet highs and tragic lows while illuminating all the sticky, messy passages in between. No matter what you’re in the mood for, pick up this little gem. In less than 300 pages, the weight of the world will feel a little lighter on your shoulders in the aftershock of Ben’s tragedy. Your prospects may seem brighter next to Trev’s grim future. Your eyes will sting from laughter at the dark, unforgiving humor. You won’t have any regrets.”
