MixedLos Angeles Review of BooksCline nimbly imagines a mind in the throes of unraveling ... The book mostly avoids pathos. Because it cleaves to the perspective of an unlikable, unremarkable person who has no friends and has isolated himself from his family, Switzy lacks the texture of prolonged tragedy that an illness like Alzheimer’s often inflicts on the sufferer’s loved ones ... Has none of the uniquely insightful and heartbreaking details of old age, death, and grief ... Switzy seems to pose a question: why should we care about David Hastings?
MixedLos Angeles Review of BooksTold by a floating, omniscient voice, the stories of no less than 20 other characters—historical and invented—take center stage ... Although Now I Surrender suggests a puzzle full of beautiful connections woven throughout the storylines, it withholds a single solution ... Feels like a story composed as the author was figuring out what it all meant, a collage of historical research, fiction, documentary, and diary.
