Sunday, April 15, 2012

Dzanc's titles have seen some review action lately:

Jac Jemc's forthcoming novel (April 10), My Only Wifereviewed at Nous Pique:

     "My Only Wife is a sneaky book. It guiles the reader with clean prose and apparent simplicity into believing that it's a novel about the narrator's only wife. It may be about many things - about absence, emptiness, and loss - but it really isn't about the narrator's only wife. It's more like an empty glass from the cupboard, an abstraction, a form, and it invites us to fill it with particulars from our own experience."

Eugene Cross's Fires of Our Choosing has seen a few recent reviews too. From Fiction Writers Review:

     "With Fires of Our Choosing, Cross climbs boldly into the ring with the greats, if only to deliver a decisive knockout punch."


     "How noteworthy is it, then, that Cross offers no apologies for his characters: their poor choices, their lack of moral fortitude, their betrayals of each other and the poverty of their surroundings and, often, themselves; he leaves these things alone. They are who they are, and if dignity has been denied them by the rest of us, including us story-tellers, it is restored by this collection. That he has undertaken to serve as their raconteur should place Cross on the radar of all the big prizes that gift those blessed with talent, compassion and fearlessness, particularly during this present moment in our history."


     "Eugene Cross has created stories in which plot rightly serves as the function of character, and characters' motivations are carefully tended. The stories make sense; they convince. And in each, there are scenes that will stay with readers for a long time."

David Galef's My Date with Neanderthal Women over at Slushpile:

     "...is a compelling read, fun and thought-provoking. The key strength of this book is Galef's ability to anchor such borderline ridiculous plots and twists in recognizable and relatable realities."  

As well as a couple of older titles getting some nice words. Peter Markus's Bob, or Man on Boat via The Lit Pub:

     "(Markus) gives us a story to hold."

And Pamela Ryder's A Tendency to Be Gone via The Nervous Breakdown:

     "A Tendency To Be Gone presents an artist unmoored, ascending exultant heights"