Lucinda and her boyfriend Dracula, yes, that Dracula, navigate dead-end jobs, difficult (and disturbing) neighbors, amateur actors and the underground art world.
... a deeply satisfying and mysteriously tear-inducing story to those willing to follow this sometimes confounding journey ... It can be frustrating at times, feeling always in the dark, but the interactions nevertheless keep propelling us forward ... [has] a dreamlike quality, as we stumble around in scenes that alternate between fantastical and achingly, if absurdly, real ... In its opaquest moments, the novel serves ingeniously as a Rorschach test for our own perceptions and concerns, leading us to look for the answers and logic we want and maybe even find them — until the next scene upends our previous analysis, the blots all changing shape. It takes a certain kind of reader to go for this book, but anyone enjoying the experimental, the strange and the dreamy — not to mention Tifft’s exquisitely specific and strange descriptions — will surely find much pleasure in From Hell to Breakfast.
Fans of magical realism and unreliable narrators might enjoy this sophomore effort from Tifft, but the story leaves readers with more questions than answers. The narrative style alternates between first person and stream of conscience and at times is hard to follow. Recommended only for larger collections or where the author’s previous work circulated well.
... bizarre, captivating ... Dracula is not the strangest character in this novel ... Tifft dexterously and lucidly handles the pervasive confusion. This is a sharp, head-spinning story about two lovers desperately seeking nourishment.
