The best stories here may be rooted in mockery or satire, but as they grow up and out they unfurl what had been latent inside them. Not all of them get to this level ... But on every page of this book Bissell sees life with mordant clarity and finds words not only to describe it but to reanimate it ... Vigilantes, bullies, expats: To tell you the 'subjects' of these stories is to tell you almost nothing about the experience of reading them, their stylistic flair, the unpredictability of their movement. They reminded me of how fiction can be not just a form of escape but a way to get lost in the actual strangeness of this world, those crooked roads that lead us through flashes of horror, delight and sudden recognition.
... edgy, witty and utterly contemporary ... The seven stories that compose Creative Types manifest a kind of playful energy that reflects his delight in being able to return to the form ... The pleasure of Bissell’s stories lies less in any epiphanies or tidy endings than in the way he consistently evokes the experience of painful, humorous, awkward and very human moments. Most of the stories in Creative Types are very much of this time, so there’s some doubt if readers 20 years from now will appreciate all of its allusions and sly humor. But in these strange days, Bissell’s fiction is certain to make many feel right at home.
This buzzing collection brings together seven stories that showcase [Bissell's] gift for energetic storytelling, each tale imbued with humor and relevant cultural references ... Bissell’s affinity for fast pacing and quick wit will reward readers looking for an antidote to the doldrums of life under quarantine.
... droll, thoughtful ... Each story demonstrates Bissell’s talent for smooth, sparkling prose, arresting descriptions and vivid characterization. Desperate, downtrodden, and self-absorbed, the protagonists are thoroughly human, and Bissell consistently transforms the reader’s voyeuristic pleasure into unexpected sympathy.
Bissell is a deeply precise writer, and his sense of the emotional disorientation his characters face is literally gut-level ... Bissell’s background in detail-oriented journalism comes in handy both in terms of language and form ... The stories’ endings sometimes lack the crispness of their setups, but Bissell is trading in anxiety, not resolution ... A witty, wide-ranging exploration of complex emotions.
