Great big thanks to Max Marin of The Philadelphia Review of Books for the most thorough and thoughtful review of Any Deadly Thing to date:
“'Any Deadly Thing' is a formidable intro that shows us what the author can do, and does, throughout the collection, rolling out the carpet, distracting us with the figure, and then releasing ghosts from the floorboards beneath."
October 23, 2013, 8:23 p.m.Categories: Any Deadly Thing, Review, Short Stories, Travel
Many thanks to Noah Gup for his kind review of Any Deadly Thing at Coal Hill Review: "The vividness of each location is due to Kesey’s beautiful, careful prose. … Kesey’s narration perfects the line between affection and malice, dialing up the dread." So all y'all, any time you need the dread dialed up, you know who to call.
August 7, 2013, 12:53 p.m.Categories: Any Deadly Thing, Review, Short Stories
I missed this when it first came out, but am grateful now: many thanks to Desmond Traynor for reviewing Pacazo in The Sunday Independent. He says, “(T)he writing is beautifully cadenced, recalling the arresting simplicity of William Carlos Williams.” Just wait until he sees my wheelbarrows full of plums.
Big-time thanks to Jason Marc Harris for the smart review of Any Deadly Thing in the latest issue of Mid-American Review:
"With his engaging narrative voice and well-paced prose, Kesey dramatizes moments of extremity through characters who struggle to reconcile their burden of guilt and the impulse to do something that helps. (...) This pattern of revelation during debasement is part of the glorious nature of Kesey's misfits in misery in Any Deadly Thing. Wrong about so much in their lives, their moments of clarity, companionship, and agency stand out all the brighter amid the dirt and doubt."
And the review aside, it's a bang-up issue, including a story by Mark Brazaitis, poetry by Erin Lyndal Martin, and a translation chapbook of work by Helge Torvund translated by Jeanie Shaterian.
June 17, 2013, 10:25 a.m.Categories: Any Deadly Thing, Review
Many thanks to Jim Ruland for the good love for Any Deadly Thing out in San Diego.
June 11, 2013, 11:15 a.m.Categories: Any Deadly Thing, Review
Honored to be joining Brian Evenson, Kevin Wilson, Stefan Kiesbye and others in writing reviews of movies that don't exist but should for Adam Cushman's Sleeper Celluloid series over at Trop. In my case, the film is based on (and named after) Christopher Bachelder's brilliant novel Abbott Awaits. Many thanks to the editor of Trop, Tom Dibblee, and to Matt Bell (AKA Mateo Campana) for the great quote about Bachelder's work.
Many thanks to Michael B. Tager and the editors at Jmww Journal for their go at Any Deadly Thing: "(E)very one of the characters is someone the reader can latch on to. Their choices are terrible, but they make sense. It's not something you would do (you hope), but it's something you can't look away from, like the tastiest, pathos-iest train wreck you've ever seen.”
April 17, 2013, 2:25 p.m.Categories: Any Deadly Thing, Fiction Collections, Litmags, Review
Psyched to see the first review of Any Deadly Thing come up roses. Many thanks to Steve Newman and the rest of the crew at TimeOut Chicago.
April 7, 2013, 1:52 p.m.Categories: Any Deadly Thing, Fiction Collections, Review, Short Stories
