Two New Reviews

Hi, everybody! My brother and Mark Childress have both written in to tell me about a nice mention of my new book in TIME OUT CHICAGO. TIME OUT CHICAGO wants people to stop thinking of me as a "stand-up comedian" (which technically I have never been, to my knowledge) and start taking me seriously! Darn it, they say, if this new book doesn't do the trick, nothing will (I'm paraphrasing). So, take that, people who accused me of being a stand-up comedian when my last book came out... who was that? ... oh, yeah! TIME OUT CHICAGO. Well, I'm just ribbing them very gently because I truly appreciate the nice mention and besides, it does seem to obliquely refer to their other review, so it's not like I'm "calling them out" or anything. I want to be friends with them! Speaking of which, a nice person named Ms. Havrilesky reviewed my book for Book Forum. Now Ms. Havrilesky didn't like EVERYTHING about the book, but I would say she seemed to relish enough of my saucy attitude to recommend it WITH SOME CAVEATS. And that's okay! In my opinion, she exaggerates the outlandishness of my characters, but it is something I've heard a lot, so maybe I am the one who is wrong! But if you concentrate on the positive things in the review - and choose, as I did, to interpret what she perceives as weaknesses as the towering strengths of a master author (I think "aimlessness" is cool, for example) - Ms. Havrilesky's review, at the very least, will make you curious about the book. And if you need a little help being pushed over the edge toward consumerism, why not check out the other reviews I've received: from ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, also from THE BROOKLYN RAIL and a newspaper in San Diego and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. Also, the Sunday Atlanta Journal-Constitution had some highly pleasant things to say about my writing in an interview/article about Sheri Joseph and myself. Or listen to me blather on a "podcast." Put them all in a hat and shake them up and the result, I believe, will make you interested. That is all I can hope for! I am just doing the best I can!