Critical Praise

"Emotionally complex, politically intelligent, beautifully written: Among the best from a novelist in the classic American tradition."

——Kirkus (starred review)

"The gifted Merullo tells Anthony's bittersweet coming-of-age story with crafty narrative and a beautifully vivid depiction of the time and place.…Highly recommended."

——Library Journal (starred review)

"A beautiful story--told with the compelling voice of a writer who is willing to approach the enormous question of redemption, and does so with truthfulness and striking decency."

——Elizabeth Strout, author of Amy and Isabelle

"Beautiful and shapely.…The rhythm of the chapters beguile.…The sacrament of Italian American family lives in the heart of the words, displayed with perfect clarity and utter humanity.…A pleasure to read, and to read again."

——Booklist (starred review)

"Merullo has a knack for rendering emotional complexities, paradoxes or impasses in a mere turn of the phrase."

——Chicago Tribune

"What makes In Revere, In Those Days stand out from most other contemporary novels is its graceful prose, its deep and decent characters, and its quiet insistence upon the fundamental dignity of humanity."

——Seattle Times

"In his willowy-tough style, Merullo creates characters as familiar as the man at the corner store, as breathtaking as a winner at the track."

——Boston Magazine

"The details are just right, and the result is a portrait of a time and a place and a state of mind that has few equals."

——Boston Globe

"A poignant look at a life with roots, and how sometimes you have to leave those roots. . . . Merullo has created characters that seem almost too real to be imagined. . . . The telling of their stories is as fresh and real as people from your own childhood."

——The Philadelphia Inquirer