RaveChicago Review of BooksAbsorbing, gentle, and melancholy ... All ten stories contribute to the whole—a collective narrative that feels like a deep breath of gratitude, longing, and heartbreak for a future in the face of climate change ... Rigg writes eloquently and carefully, her prose containing a beat and rhythm that sound just as heartfelt as it does strong, demanding attention. Her many characters contain the real and raw of personhood, and she finds ways to place elevated, sometimes gut-wrenching, lines of poetry within paragraphs where they are not expected but still felt. These stories glide together smoothly, the characters living lives that intermingle and merge in subtle and intentional ways.
PositiveChicago Review of BooksA turbulent and harrowing ride ... ... The difficult genius of Bring The House Down is how hard it hammers the idea of there really being two sides to every story ... As much as Bring The House Down is a thought provoking novel with evolving themes, characters and subplots, there were pages and passages that could have easily been transferable to a compelling profile out of The New Yorker. Runcie writes with a voice that can only be achieved through the bird’s eye view of an objective, observant journalist ... Formidable.
RaveChicago Review of BooksAn admirable compliment to his resume of work and widens his stance as an artist that continues to provide irreplaceable commentary on American life, speaking not to his readers, but through ... This novel explores a variety of themes that fit together like puzzle pieces ... His prose often forces you to look up from the page to fully absorb them and remember where you really are, a different time, or whatever we’re calling America in 2025—a place that feels like a really long way from home.
