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Plaudits for Merrill Joan Gerber’s essays in Hippocampus Magazine:

“A pleasure to read…. Her own fine writing makes each essay a jewel, packed with delicious turns of phrase.”

—Vicky Mayk, in Hippocampus Magazine

W. D. Clarke’s long and thoughtful review of Lee Klein’s Neutral Evil ))), is well worth a read:

“Long after finishing it, I find myself still thinking about this—let’s not call it autofiction—digressive apologia pro vita sua and meditative, measured assessment of self, family, and culture. And, above all, this is not so much an account but a demonstration of how the artist resists the pull of the ’neutral evil’ of the world by harnessing the chaotic good to be found in it, in his or herself, and in other works of art…. Lee Klein shows us, embodies how the humble art of art is done, via memory, dream, reflection.”

—W. D. Clarke, "The Art of Resistance"

Kirkus Reviews weighs in on Lee Upton’s Tabitha, Get Up:

“Upton’s prose is razor-sharp—as filtered through the unpredictable and slightly delusional perspective of Tabitha, it takes on a magical, frenetic quality…. Though many madcap events occur, it’s Tabitha’s humorous and hypnotic voice that propels the story. A delightfully meta novel about a woman writing her way out of calamity.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“The brazen pun in the title makes clear that Stone’s book is here to play, subtlety be damned. In fact, so exuberantly madcap are the stories that when read continuously, Sporting Moustaches feels like being gently bludgeoned by a tender lunatic…. there’s no let up…. Relax, read as and when the humour takes you, and forget rules. Just enjoy the sweet derangement….”

—Simon Demetriou, in Cyprus Mail

“Holy cow! What has Joe Taylor wrought upon the world now? … [H]ere the dead will talk to you, but first they will hang themselves and then lecture you from the land of the dead…. It’s like Heraclitus reborn on the gulf coast as a damn redneck who writes like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Is it a play, or a novel, or a script for the reality that is right in front of our eyes? The bastard children of time on parade.”

—J.M. (Michael) White, in Dawn Major

Sporting Moustaches made Vol1 Brooklyn’s “Books of the Month":

“Aug Stone explores the absurd place where sports and facial hair collide, and it’s like nothing you’ve read before.”

—Vol. 1 Brooklyn

“Tender subjects such as cancel culture, harassment, and fetish are addressed in this novel with a delicate recklessness that represents the clashing of two ideals: the first is the need to be politically correct with a surface level sense of morality; the second is the need to see the humanity in each individual, which is a deep-rooted sense of morality that transcends the passing of philosophical trend cycles. Holdefer writes from the interior of the characters, even the problematic ones, which gives them shape as three-dimensional, somewhat redeemable characters, despite their flaws.”

—Aurora Blanchard, in Sports Literature Association

“Don’t Look at Me is a satire as generous as it is sharp. Focused on a person who is dealt a strange hand by fate, the book is quirky, and the characters are odd, and it works because the balance is absolutely sure. This is the secret of its enchantment. Catastrophe leads to quiescence, and quiescence to risk-taking. The pattern is shot through the novel, and it is lovely to experience.”

—Vic Peterson, in Dactyl Review