Critical Praise

"His characters are marvelously sympathetic creations. . . . What is most striking about the collection is not the subject matter but Englander's genius for telling a tale. . . . Invite[s] comparison to some of the best storytellers--Gogol, Singer, Kafka and even John Cheever. "

———Time Out New York

"Every so often there's a new voice that entirely revitalizes the story. . . .It's happening again with Nathan Englander, whose precise, funny, heartbreaking, well-controlled but never contrived stories open a window on a fascinating landscape we might never have known was there. It's the best story collection I've read in ages. "

———Ann Beattie

"Remarkable art. . . .The author fills each of these pieces with vivid life, with characters that jump off the page. "

———Newsday

"Englander's voice is distinctly his own--daring, funny and exuberant. "

———Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition. "

———The New York Times Book Review