Countries need writers as their voices of conscience; few have them. Israel has Oz

One of the greatest prose writers in contemporary fiction

Amos Oz is a great writer because he tells stories about real people in a way that no one else can

He has that mixture of lyrical intensity, utter seriousness and capacity for describing life in a few words which characterises some of the best Russian authors

There are times when you are reminded what it means to be in the presence of a genius...with Amos Oz you have to add wisdom and hope too

Insightful, inventive and lyrical

Delicately beautiful, atmospheric

An absolutely essential prologue to Rogue One. If I had to recommend a Star Wars book to film fans that have yet to venture into the canon, it would definitely be this one

an excellent complement to Rogue One…an enjoyable explanation of some of the key dynamics in Rogue One

Epic in scope and uniquely relevant in its concern for displacement. Particularly well-suited for our times, then.

[This] remarkable debut novel . . .unfolds kaleidoscopically and elliptically, and to supremely good effect . . . [It] showcases [Alyan's] lyrical facility . . . [with] captivating prose that manages to be both tender and powerful.

A brain-blitzing riff on war, technology and consciousness ... thrilling - who else is writing with this much freedom and verve right now?

A tale of the insights of the limitations of technology, the insights of schizophrenia, the abuses of modern warfare, and of a clandestine love affair

The title poem Kumukanda is elegant, eloquent and moving... For all the particularity of his subject matters and his openness in exploring them, it’s the fine and sophisticated writing that makes me return to these poems

Exceedingly powerful; by turns furious, tender and bittersweet, taking as it does the overall theme of in-betweens. Ancestry versus contemporary rites of passage. The ambiguous versus the undeniable. Who you are, and who you choose to be seen as, versus who others perceive you to be

Chingonyi is the living writer who inspires and influences me the most

A beautiful exploration of grief and boyhood... Each poem is delivered with such precision and deftness

Underground Airlines is a powerful work … a brave, controversial thriller.

A great premise … but slavery scenes will haunt you.

An almost painfully timely novel.

Winters does an amazing job of painting a world that never was but, in his hands, is frighteningly plausible … Winters has crafted a thrilling, tightly plotted and nourish thriller.

If you’re looking for a brilliant, smart, chilling page turner for what’s left of the summer, I can recommend Ben H. Winters.

Winters does an amazing job of painting a world that next we was, but in his hands, are frighteningly plausible … Winters could not have written a more timely novel.

Groundbreaking.

A really intriguing premise.

On the surface, Underground Airlines is a well-crafted thriller, suspenseful and with fascinating characters. But not far below the surface is a philosophical debate about how one small change of events in history can put the world on a different path.

‘Intriguing’

There is more than one idiot in this delightful and slyly funny coming-of-age novel... Will strike a chord for any former fresher who felt the same way. (That would be all of us.)

Batuman, in seemingly writing a novel about nothing, has produced an incredibly complex, accurate and funny novel.

I never want to finish it, so I’m reading it very slowly.

Every page is thicketed with jokes, riffs, theories of language. It’s a portrait of an intellectual and sentimental education that offers almost unseemly pleasure.

Elif Batuman is a real writer, and should be allowed to write whatever the hell she likes.

Selin’s deadpan narration is often very funny indeed

This is a capacious book that creates an alternative world

At once clever and clueless, Batuman’s heroine shows us with just how messy it can be to forge a self

One of the best novels I read all summer... a painstakingly accurate depiction of the balancing act that is student-life. As clever as it is funny, Batuman's debut novel allows us to laugh at our own stupidity, and celebrate our own cluelessness.

The Idiot... manages the trick of being laugh-out-loud funny while not actually being a comedy. It just observers life, in all its truth and is hilarious for page after page.

I finally read The Idiot by Elif Batuman and everyone is correct, she is clearly a genius