The best, most sincere writer I've ever read

Breece D’J Pancake left behind an astonishing achievement. He was a master of a distinctly American vernacular, which he used to remind us of all the ways that fiction could teach us about ourselves. These stories are absolutely essential reading

This is an exceptional voice; gritty, mordant, invested with the texture of stroked reality; urgent and haunting

Muscular, precise, lyric and unforgettable… Utterly singular

Simple, rich with dialogue and precious

[Pancake’s] words…combined with an unsparing vision of humanity create the spine-tingling sense that you’re reading an original

Haunting brilliance

By any standards, [the story “Trilobites”] is a masterpiece; that it is an artistic debut is astonishing… To say that Breece D’J Pancake is not well enough known is a massive understatement… Quite simply, a literary genius

Impressive

Misfits and twisted individuals loom large throughout these urbane stories . . . satirically edged.

Paul Theroux combines the traveller's hawk eye with the novelist's keen insight. . .[he has] an uncanny ability to rivet the reader.

A masterpiece of wit and elegance.

The author charts the various stages of life with engaging curiosity and earthy compassion... The publishers, Jonathan Cape, have done a fine job with this handsome and substantial collection.

All the customary satisfactions of Burnside's writing – anomie, menace, flashes of violence and cruelty, hallucination and snow – but multiplied.

Even Burnside’s most routine stories have beauty and intelligence. He is never less than something like brilliant.

A tremendous collection from a writer working at the full tilt of his gifts.