MixedThe New York Times Book ReviewLost and profoundly myopic souls abound in Tanen’s tale ... The oft-mined tropes here would have benefited from more original insights and deeper humor, and the novel’s tone never fully settles; still, one wholeheartedly hopes that they all find some measure of future happiness.
Evan James
PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewJames’s debut novel — a comedy of manners about the banes of upper-middle-class characters — bubbles with self-realizations, love in the patois of addiction speak, incipient love that could bridge oceans and a self-help expo keynote address imploring the freeing of our inherent wildness ... [Frank] will indeed cheer up.
H. M. Naqvi
PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewShort chapters are packed with excited erudition about ontological panic, Karachi’s jazz age, ghazal poetry, the making of memory, the politics of preservation ... This indefatigable character both entertains and wipes out his readers.
