MixedThe Washington Independent Review of Books\"As Paz Soldán’s spare narration focuses on his character’s grotesque violence, the descriptions are profoundly unnerving and, for this reader, pass into the gratuitous. Perhaps some restraint might better lead the reader to understand Jesús’ cultural and class desperation ... While Michelle’s search for relationships and direction as a Bolivian-American is intriguing, Paz Soldán’s characterization of her intellectual journey unfortunately sometimes verges on a self-indulgent enjoyment of her intellectual ruminations ... Edmundo Paz Soldán has written a riveting and gritty story of Hispanic immigrants. Through Norte, a story of crime and punishment, poverty and class, cultural and familial grief, the author has given us very different voices, each with a distinct and compelling rhythm and cultural ecology.\
Frances Stroh
PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of Books...the economic story of Detroit and the Stroh business, while interesting, is not as compelling a read as Frances Stroh’s memoir of her family’s contorted emotional life ... In a kind of social voyeurism, France Stroh’s memoir is our lens through which we observe the devastating and centrifugal forces in her family ... Frances Stroh’s family memoir, a frequently perceptive and almost redolent novel of manners, is at its core her psychological journey toward healing and a purposeful life. Beer Money reflects a quite honest, non-self-indulgent telling of the facts of the author’s family life.