A book for which one feels incredulous gratitude ... Her essays are sympathetic little masterpieces to which she brings storytelling capacity and an intensity that absorbs as the best fiction does ... Elspeth Barker retains her gorgeous prodigality as a writer even when focusing on minor subjects.
The originality of her writing springs from every page ... She is deliciously mordant and much less sentimental about humans than animals ... Joyous, startling, funny, lush, dark and complex.
[Barker] had the unusual quality of being able to both shock and soothe ... These small, absinthey sips of Barker are a break from one’s usual mental cage.
