Critical Praise

"One comes to the end of The Cunning Man reflecting on the sheer pleasure of reading a novel by a writer who has lived a full life . . . and one who has read and thought about everything from Jung and male bonding to medicine and art. What delight to be again in the hands of a master storyteller. "

—Detroit Free Press

"Davies deftly combines metaphysics, magic, and modern medicine to tell a contemporary story with ancient roots . . . a splendid intellectual romp as well as an absorbingly literate novel. Davies at his best. "

—Kirkus Reviews

"The Cunning Man is a delight, a novel that travels 70 years of history on its own swift feet, a book of love and wisdom, loss and irony. "

—The Boston Sunday Globe

"Urbanity, wit, and high seriousness, mixed by a master chef. "

—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Wonderfully funny, poignant and never less than totally engrossing. . . . Davies' clear-sighted humanism, irony and grasp of character are on vivid display. "

—Publishers Weekly

"Davies' embracing energy and his eye for the telling detail drive this . . . crafty, wayward and engrossing tale. "

—San Francisco Chronicle

" This is a wise, humane and consistently entertaining novel. Robertson Davies's skill and curiosity are as agile as ever, and his store of incidental knowledge is a constant pleasure. Long may he continue to divert us. "

—The New York Times Book Review

"One of his most entertaining and satisfying books. . . . Davies composes a kind of fictionalized grand opera, replete with emblematic characters, archetypal plotting, soulful arias and much sparkling repartee. "

—The Washington Post Book World