PositiveFiction Writers ReviewMayer renders the cast in all its complexity. He presents common wonders and everyday magic like the \'iridescent pink storm on a bowling ball\' \' while also parading a menagerie of the tragic ... An emotionally complex, crowd-pleasing circus is not a simple show to put on, yet through a series of short story acts this collection does just that ... details fit naturally in the work, offering us a deeper glimpse of the characters or their situation. They are present, but function as organic icons that don’t draw too much attention and thereby imbue the stories with a bonus layer of depth ... In contrast, the language and gesturing toward meaning in a story like \'The Evasive Magnolio\' at times feels forced ... Where Mayer is at his best is when he distracts you from his skill and the weight of his stories with the sleight of hand of humor and lightness ... Despite the poverty and divorce and dead elephants and murder clowns, the America portrayed here is not a simple, nasty, broken place. It’s a land where there’s still the surprisingly optimistic possibility of arriving at unity and light.
