RaveThe Portland OregonianOf the eight stories in this new volume, most with the resonance of novellas, four are at least as good as any I've ever read … Englander uses elements of Raymond Carver's famous story ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love’ as the skeleton for his title story, but the flesh he drapes on those bones is distinctly his own … Cut in line to buy this book; chances are, you'll cry; guaranteed you'll laugh.
Michael Ondaatje
RaveThe Portland OregonianThe adults on board are a colorful — almost mythic — lot, including a botanist transporting psychotropic plants, a suave thief and a worldly lounge pianist, who become guides to the boys in different ways … The author splices fragments of the future into the narrative, tracing the impact of the three shipboard weeks on his characters' future lives. Michael matures into a writer who alights in England for some years before settling in Canada. Is this autobiography? A disclaimer follows the text, which I suspect should largely be believed, but The Cat's Table is likely to be examined in light of the ongoing conversation about the blurring lines between fiction and memoir. Regardless, this strategy allows the author interesting liberties and creates another layer of mystery … Ondaatje's vision, though dark, is unfailingly generous and humane.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
