About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Roseanne Montillo
Positive Avenue Deliberate Cruelty uses straightforward language to get at an enticing plot and colorful characters ... Montillo outlines with careful clarity Capote’s steady emotional and mental decline ... To call Capote’s and Woodward’s lives intertwined, as Montillo does, though, sometimes seems a stretch.
Elissa Bassist
Rave Brooklyn Rail This book is not a nagging rant by any means. Bassist is much too good for that. She takes us on this wild and uncomfortable ride with ease thanks to her incredible wit and humor to help us not to scream at the top of our lungs—which Bassist would probably be ok with or encourage ... Her writing reads like a wise older sister, insightful and to the point, brutal when need be, but there to catch you when you’re ready to fall. I read this book in a couple of days, swiftly and hungrily. Anytime I got the urge to stop because I felt too angry to keep reading about this frustrating world, I kept going.
Jill Bialosky
Positive The Brooklyn Rail At times, it can be heavy, pushing through all this interiority ... The reader may wonder where this will all lead, as very little plot movement takes place at given moments, but the writing is superb and specific while the character is real and interesting, which promises something worth finishing to the end.
Ida Jessen
Rave Brooklyn Rail The Danish writer Ida Jessen masterfully explores the female voice in her latest short story collection...There are six stories in total, which are all remarkably real and relatable...At first, these stories may seem even too mundane with everyday chores of cooking and cleaning, fighting with one’s spouse, or listening to a son badmouth his mother...But as you continue to connect with these women, you realize there is so much more to their everyday lives...They are all on the brink of something that is going to change them forever...Within these short stories, the imagery of nature and all its beauty is as lush as the writing itself...The author’s talents shine because she gives us this intoxicating interiority of strong female characters showing us how complex they are, how strong, and how there is much more than what meets the eye.
Jami Attenberg
Rave The Brooklyn Rail To say this book was a delight to read is putting it lightly. As a writer, I felt instantly connected to Attenberg’s notions ... Attenberg isn’t shy about speaking on the sacrifices that come with writing ... I loved how deeply Attenberg cared and appreciated her friends and how they felt the same way toward her ... throughout all her travels and stumbles, Attenberg walked about with some incredible journeys and self-reflections. Things do change, we can absolutely change, but it’s the hard times that help mold us and our art.
Katie Kitamura
Positive The Los Angeles Review of Books Kitamura’s prose is assertive and straightforward, an interesting contrast with the complexity of her characters. She has a knack for bringing us into these intimate spaces while still keeping us far enough away to see things as an outsider looking in...Language is a strong tool in this book, referring both to the author’s writing and to the communication between characters. It is used not only to communicate thoughts and feelings between lovers and friends, but also to break the barrier between foreign countries as well as different morals and intentions. What is said in any language can be powerful, but silence also holds its own. What goes unsaid between these characters is a language of its own, providing a stronger sense of suspense that is as realistic as it is disturbing.
Jamie Figueroa
Mixed The Brooklyn Rail Figueroa has a way with words. The prose is poetic, unique and engrossing...and oftentimes as magical as the story itself. It’s easy to get lost in the language and the story, both creating this dream-like caliber, but it can sometimes be challenging. The reader may float above the surface without always finding a way in. But that could be the intention. To swim over these uncharted waters and characters that are taught to mystify ... Perhaps we aren’t meant to see all that’s hidden underneath. Or maybe we need to look that much harder.