"From Washington to Trump, these are the stories of each president’s childhood—told through fragments and quotes appropriated from more than 300 children’s books, pop history books and scholarly biographies. "Fabulously original"
– Kenneth Goldsmith
"It's time to admit what everyone knows: there's no bolder, no wittier critic of our modern, polarizing American culture than Dave Housley, who points out the absurdities in our relationships while reminding us why we must hold on to each other."
– Susan Muaddi Darraj
“A masterfully told story of betrayal and dislocation vibrantly narrated through the voices of an odd-ball aunt and her eccentric niece, Following Disasters is at once a mystery, a love story, and a narrative of healing. Nancy McCabe’s most recent novel explores that deepest human yearning: our need to belong. I couldn’t put it down."
— Elaine Neil Orr
"Phong Nguyen takes on American history and literature in this captivating novel. Writing about a marginal character in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he illuminates the marginal characters of American culture in the 19th century. The imaginative return of an adult Tom Sawyer is alone worth the price of this book."
— Viet Thanh Nguyen
"Writing into the sand hole that is 'Wes Anderson,' three friends write their way almost to the limit of their engagingly ambivalent and indisputably brilliant personalities, thereby calling into question the certainty of anything... A gripping read."
- Chris Kraus
"Funny, moving, perceptive, artful -- these are the first words that came to mind when I tried to describe Understudies to a friend. And then, to better capture its spirit, I began reading it aloud and marveled all over again at Ravi Mangla's ability to tell us, with precision and wit, what deserves to be known."
- Joanna Scott
"Stanley Jenkins' unforgettable characters roam America's heartland in search of its soul. If there is grace to be found amid nihilism, the stories in this disturbingly beautiful collection find it. Jenkins finds shards of humanity inside hardened criminals, and the petty larceny lurking in all our hearts. A stunning debut."
- Dick Scanlon
"A literary version of a great rock album. . . the story of our generation, and how we got to where we are by doing the best we could with what we knew at the time. . . No irritable reaching after fact and reason. Just. . . truth. And it deserves to go platinum."
- David Bradley
Thirteen thumbnail sketches in a semi-causally related sequence that more or less maps out what it was like to be the author from, say, 1996 to 2011, with a judicious feint or two toward the back story where appropriate.
"These stories are a portrait of America in all its breadth, across regions, classes, races, religions. Charles McLeod knows the whole country through its ill-fitting parts and people. All through this book, there are moments of wild candor and insight that crack the surface of daily life."
- Salvatore Scibona
Thirty short essays, crafted as epitaphs, each one unfolding in a single sentence. "A courageous, honest, and decidedly non-angelic dissection of the instants, both mundane and macrocosmic, that shape a man, and the malaise that tears him to the core." - The Colagist
"What sort of God would allow not only the black, bleak existence of Hitler and all his minions, all the things that had happened and were still happening, and not only to Jews, but blindly, indifferently tolerate the revolting fact of this disgusting, immoral, impossible pregnancy?"
"The devil is right behind me, tapping me on the shoulder to get me to come back, reminding me of how good it feels to be high in the summertime, day and night; telling me, Hey, big fella, you haven't fallen far enough; I keep shooting at you, big fella, but all you get is grazed and I want a square shot."
"This book is so strange and so good, a discovery, a treasure found, in more ways than one. It's a book of awesome links and leaps, peopled by characters mythic in their divine and formless quests. Feral children, runaway moms, ruthless reckless men and fabulous stories in every rock, seed and desperate room. A most disquieting and satisfying read."
- Joy Williams
A young software pro returns to Moscow - with carnal memories of his old missionary companion. His wife stays in Boston, waiting for him to return, to build a family and a Mormon way of life. But it's the end of the 1990's, the end of Russia's gold-rush era, and the end of ideals stretched beyond good use. "An excellent novel of conscience."
- Kevin McIlvoy