The Boy Who Shoots Crows
Penguin/ Berkley Prime Crime 2012
A middle-aged woman moves from New York City to rural Pennsylvania to escape a bad divorce, and there, through her art, finds the serenity and sense of self she has been seeking. But when she accidentally shoots a 12-year-old boy, she panics and hides the body, then must live with the destructive consequences to herself and her new hometown. This becomes especially difficult when she befriends the boy’s mother, with whom she develops a complicated relationship that even she doesn’t understand.
A Barnes & Noble Bookseller’s Pick
Pierce’s Pick of the Week, January Magazine
Pulitzer Prize nominee Ace Atkins describes The Boy Who Shoots Crows as “gripping, heart-breaking…a most impressive achievement.”
Publishers Weekly calls it a “thoughtful character study.”
Fantastic Fiction recommends: ”Silvis writes with an artist’s eye for details.”
Booklist praises “the power of Silvis’ skillfully written exploration of loss, guilt, and expiation.”
Kirkus loves the “hair-raising finale (and) horrific ending.”
Author Kathleen Heady (The Gatehouse) calls the novel “amazing.”
New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart calls it “a literary thriller of the first order. Randall Silvis gets to the hearts and souls of his characters like few other, if any, novelists….”
Blogger Valerie Geary describes the novel as “a chilling psychological thriller that spirals quick and deep into the darkest places of the soul.”
The Mystery Gazette says “the mystery will grip readers.”
The New York Times says the novel “keeps us rapt.”
Author Heidi Ruby Miller (Ambassadora) warns that “the end is not for the faint of heart. The details will haunt you.”
The Minneapolis Star Tribune calls it a “stunning, elegiac novel of love and loss…a powerful narrative (that) unfolds in small brushstrokes, each sentence heavy with what’s not there…until the heartbreaking final pages.”
Over My Dead Body! mystery magazine calls the novel “a work of genius…filled with such immense imagery and strength as to make you catch your breath.”
Novelist Hallie Ephron writes in The Boston Globe: “From the opening page, Silvis allows the story to unfold in rich, often elegiac yet vivid and painterly prose…. The Boy Who Shoots Crows is a potent exploration of culpability and redemption that rewards the patient reader.”
Pulitzer Prize nominee William Allen says, “Whether he writes a literary novel or a genre-busting exploration of the human condition, Randall Silvis is consistently innovative, daring, and visionary. Book after book after book, he proves again that he is not only this country’s most pitch-perfect stylist, but also one of our most original and most important writers.”
****
Flying Fish
a short novel, PS Publishing, UK 2012
Flying Fish is the first-person story of Devon Hawkins, a hapless Hogg Island fisherman (off the New England coast) who, as a last resort for changing his luck, consorts with a mysterious and perhaps magical 200+ year old woman who has never aged beyond her adolescence.
“Randall Silvis has outdone himself with Flying Fish: the setting, the characters and their working class background, the mysticism and philosophy that infuses it, and the completely natural and down-to-earth story of a young man learning how to see outside of himself into the rest of the world (and in doing that, finding himself) is a pitch-perfect coming of age story that shimmers like light on water.” Nebula Award nominee Christopher Barzak, author of One for Sorrow and The Love We Share Without Knowing
“Flying Fish is magic realism at its finest. Using the traditional beliefs of the small, isolated—perhaps inbred—population of Hogg Island, Silvis pens a tale that explores the superstitions of a marine culture. He describes in exquisite detail that sex is powerful magic, amplifying what each partner brings into the exchange. For some it is freedom and an awakening of possibility, while others become bound to their own burdens and lost inside themselves. As readers we are voyeurs, ethnographers to the carefully guarded secrets of this lonely and secluded world where the extraordinary is made mundane simply through its acceptance. And sometimes acceptance is the first step to greatness.” Heidi Ruby Miller, author of Ambasadora
****
HANGTIME, A CONFESSION
Kitsune Books 2009
“Terence Newcombe, ‘a man with two busted marriages and one gut-shot love,’ is in the midst of a crisis. He’s a literature professor ‘with nothing original or relevant to teach,’ an alcoholic who’s suddenly sober due to the death of his grad-student lover, a neglectful father, and a man still haunted by the death of his best friend at the age of 10. Looking to fill the hours he used to spend drinking, he decides to mount a campaign to win back the love of his son, thwart the mercenary intentions of his soon-to-be-divorced second wife, and take up rock climbing with his former drinking buddy, Lester. Alternately quoting Rilke, dragging his 19-year-old son to the circus a decade too late, and discussing with Lester their mutual marital woes while perched on top of the roof, Newcombe makes for a very entertaining narrator. Yet Silvis, wordsmith extraordinaire, also powerfully conveys the malaise of a man at midlife who has finally realized he has not been paying attention to the things that matter. ” Booklist
“There’s genius in this book. The writing is like a melding of J.P. Donleavy and Lawrence Durrell. Silvis is reaching way out there, still growing with this, his 11th book, more innovative than ever, and expressing a depth of thought way beyond the reach of most modern writers. He may be the last of a dying species, the creative genius.” William Allen, author of Starkweather and Fire In the Birdbath
“An aria of literary Schadenfreude…laced with humorous and thought-provoking asides…. The frequent injections of highbrow cleverness bring levity and wisdom to Hangtime. As demonstrated across his previous novels, Silvis is an excellent craftsman of smart and smart-mouthed narrative. Hangtime provides what readers of literary fiction enjoy: clever writing and informed send-ups of academia and the classics. Hangtime flatters our erudite self-image and caters to our dark side.” New York Journal of Books
IN A TOWN CALLED MUNDOMUERTO
Named One of the 10 Best Books of the Year by SfSite.com
Omnidawn Books 2007
“This beautiful, melancholy novel from Silvis unfolds as a timeless Central American seaside fable…. A masterful storyteller, Silvis doesn’t waste a word in this tale about “the tart nectar of memory’s flower.” Publisher’s Weekly starred review
“Magical realism is a tough mode to bring off. Books in this vein can often sound twee or fey or forced or artificial. But the best magical realism exhibits a kind of reverence for the mysteries of life, illuminates the strangeness of the human condition, and entertains the reader with a tragicomic perspective. Randall Silvis fulfills this mission in his novel In a Town Called Mundomuerto…. By turns droll, somber, reflective, rueful, and hopeful, this seductive story speaks of eternal verities in very specific mortal masks.” Paul Di Filippo, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“In a Town Called Mundomuerto has the ring of myth, the feel of legend…. Every word seems carefully chosen, every scene, every line of dialogue seems pre-ordained, pronounced before the world was born and simply waiting for Silvis to free them on paper. Silvis writes a perfect fable of identity and love, of how they create one another, challenge one another and, perhaps, destroy one another. The words here fall as polished jewels.” Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column Book of Reviews and Commentary
“In A Town Called Mundomuerto is a beautiful, bittersweet fable about love…gifting the reader with the most exotic of imagery, captured amber-like in a glittering layer of myth. Silvis is a masterful storyteller, and although the book is fewer than two hundred pages long, the author invests (the story) with more depth and subtle complexity than other books twice its length. Memories of this sad but beautiful tale will be sure to linger long after the novel ends.” Matt Staggs, www.skullring.org
“Silvis uses South American-style magic realism to tell a sad and disturbing story involving witches and shape-shifters. Or the perception of those things. The fact is, Silvis’s haunting prose renders reality strange whether anything actually fantastical occurs in his books or not. One of the best-written novels of the year.” Jeff VanderMeer, Best American Fantasy
“Silvis conjures village life out of the air and laces it with sights and sounds, tastes and textures till it bewitches your senses. His lyrical prose is smooth, vivid and surprisingly delicate at times, drawing you effortlessly from scene to scene, and even the smallest moments become timeless…an atmospheric and quiet tragedy that’s beautifully written and gently haunting.” Sandy Auden, SfSite.com
“My first encounter with Randall Silvis …left me literally spellbound. Silvis has a voice of his own, and what a wonderful voice! I can’t recommend this book enough, an exceptional reading experience for anyone who loves solid and seductive storytelling, elegant but profound writing style, and most of all the ability to disclose the lyricism hidden behind the apparent triviality of human existence.” Mario Guslandi, The New Review
“In A Town Called Mundomuerto is a quiet, sad novel that nonetheless finds room for bravado, devotion and delightful sexual playfulness. The reader is left wondering at the truth of the old man’s storytelling, which toys with the possibility of an individual reality for the world of fiction and the chance of a magical crossing over. Silvis’s latest book is a pleasurable and poetic read, filled with rich emotion.” HorrorScope
“Like Camus’ The Stranger and Chopin’s The Awakening, In a Town Called Mundomuerto is a powerful little novel that deeply touches the reader emotionally and intellectually…. Silvis’ sensuous prose flows effortlessly throughout the book, creating vivid images and memorable metaphors using symbolism with a dark edge.” Mayra Calvani, The Bloomsbury Review
HEART SO HUNGRY
A Toronto Globe & Mail Best of the Year Book
Knopf Canada 2004, Vintage Canada 2005, The Lyons Press 2005
“Based on the true account of the Hubbards, this latest work of creative non-fiction by writer Randall Silvis recounts a tale of courage, rivalry and betrayal…. Silvis incorporates original source materials from diaries and newspapers to help capture the emotional highs and lows at each stage of the journeys. Conflicts and obstacles abound as the vibrant, succinct narrative portrays the key players in a series of vividly imagined scenes and conversations. Silvis’s skills as a fiction writer breathe new life into the story by creating complex characters that the reader cares about…. Silvis’s lively rendering of this course of events celebrates the steely determination of Canada’s first female explorer. It also captures the untamed beauty of Labrador as a place of both danger and intrigue.” The Winnipeg Press
“Vivid, comprehensive, and compelling…. Silvis enters into the memories of Dillon Wallace and Mina Hubbard as they journey into the wilderness, using their streams of consciousness as a way of ‘flashing back’ to the doomed expedition of Leonidas Hubbard—and so of knitting together, with grace and economy, the whole complex saga. Heart So Hungry is a notable addition to the literature of northern exploration.” The Toronto Globe and Mail
“Through Silvis’ masterful research, empathetic sensitivity, and skilled storytelling, readers are treated to a tantalizing adventure that celebrates one woman’s steadfast love and uncommon courage.” Booklist
DISQUIET HEART
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Minotaur 2002
“There have been, in the past five or six years, several books written with Edgar Allan Poe as a protagonist. None has brought the man so clearly to life as Mr. Silvis has done.” The Blue Iris Review
“Disquiet Heart is atmospheric and engaging…especially noteworthy for its accurate and evocative portrayal of early 19th century Pittsburgh…. What’s more, the climax to the story—and the absolutely chilling solution to the mystery—reads almost like something out of one of Poe’s own stories…the final 130 (pages), with Poe and Dubbins together on the trail of the miscreants, literally vibrate with energy, tension and electricity…. Part ratiocinative detective story, part literary thriller, and part gothic horror tale, Disquiet Heart ultimately succeeds on any number of different levels. This is a richly textured story, vivid with emotion and period detail that is not afraid to probe both the heights and depths of human experience.” The Mean Streets Journal
“Atmospheric and cleverly researched, (Disquiet Heart) races to a sparkling denouement.” Publishers Weekly
“Moody, emotionally tortured, and convincingly atmospheric, (Disquiet Heart provides) a graphically described descent into Poe’s opiate addictions.” Kirkus Reviews
“The brash, budding city (of Pittsburgh)–a mere sapling to New York City–breeds chaos in its developing neighborhoods, industry and identity…the perfect backdrop for 17-year-old Augie Dubbins’ struggle with manhood. The novel offers intrigue–the mysterious disappearance of five women from the city’s gritty working class–but is most compelling when exploring Dubbins’ growing pains and the depths of his disquiet heart.” The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“The novel’s appeal lies in its haunted atmosphere and its morally nuanced portrait of Poe himself. Silvis creates a flawed Poe who vividly embodies the moral polarities.” Washington Post Book World
“Randall Silvis has a well-deserved reputation as a writer of stylish fiction. In Disquiet Heart, Silvis’s sly symbolism, intellectual play and literary allusions make this novel an appropriate portrait of the twin-souled, enigmatic man whose detective stories have shown us both the dark motives of the soul and the power of reason to penetrate its mysteries.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ON NIGHT’S SHORE
New York Times Recommended Summer Reading List
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Minotaur 2001
“Move over, Caleb Carr. Randall Silvis’s writing is exquisite and true.” Maan Meyers, author of The Lucifer Contract
“Stylish, dark-toned adventure…gritty and opulent.” Publishers Weekly
“First-rate history mystery.” Booklist, starred review
“A riveting tale of murder and betrayal…. Silvis has created an evocative backdrop, brilliantly capturing the sights and sounds of 19th century Manhattan. Dubbins is a beguiling urchin, while Southern-born Poe and his family are resplendent with humanity and grace. Even the villains ring true….On Night’s Shore drips with descriptive power. Silvis gives readers a page-turning story, accompanied by two remarkable and original sleuths.” New York Post
“The vibrant panorama of New York City in 1840 that Randall Silvis spreads before our eyes in On Night’s Shore bears little resemblance to the flat, static scenes that unroll like so much wallpaper in most historical mysteries. Even more arresting is his sleuth, a wild-eyed newspaper journalist who signs himself E. A. Poe and makes his meager living peddling sensational crime stories like the one that captures his imagination here—the murder of a shopgirl, Mary Rogers, whose bloated body is discovered in the Hudson River by Augie Dubbins, a 10-year-old ragamuffin who narrates the tale from the vantage of an old man…. The lively investigation conducted by this oddly matched pair of sleuths is interesting in its own right, providing rich background on the original short story (“The Mystery of Marie Roget”) that helped establish Poe as father of ratiocinative detective fiction. But let’s give Silvis his creative due…. Silvis delivers pungent impressions of the living city, exploring its mansions, slums, morgue, prisons, poorhouses and opium dens for all the ambient sounds and smells that define the character of a busy, brawling, unwashed metropolis.” New York Times Book Review
“A must-read for mystery buffs and Poe fans alike. The father of the modern detective story takes center stage in a riveting tale of murder, corruption and redemption…. Silvis recreates 1840s New York with an unstinting and often brutal clarity. His elegant, evocative prose is suggestive of Poe’s own style and his narrative integrates elements from Poe’s more popular works. The characters, real and fictional alike, are masterpieces of insight into the human experience. Nowhere is this insight more evident than in the author’s rendering of Edgar Allan Poe, a brilliant, compassionate and fatally complex man whose devotion to his work was exceeded only by his love for his family.” Kelly Cannon, www.kellycannon.com
“Fans of Caleb Carr’s historical mysteries will lap up this well-told tale of murder, mayhem, poetry, prose, and political corruption in mid-19th- century New York… (involving) an unlikely pair of heroes this reader strongly hopes to meet again.” Jane Adams, editor for Amazon.com
“The mystery behind ‘The Mystery of Marie Roget’ is just one of the classic Poe themes woven into Randall Silvis’s narrative, along with the always tantalizing puzzle of Poe’s own ferocious and unique creativity…. What lies behind Silvis’s story is compelling: the famed ‘lights and shadows’ of 19th-century Manhattan life, which for Edgar Allan Poe, alas, was mostly comprised of the latter.” Otto Penzler, Penzler’s Picks
“In the hands of Randall Silvis, the New York of 1840, from its rural edges to its tenements of squalor, pulses with life, and the dark subtlety of Edgar Allan Poe’s character slowly takes up residence in the reader’s mind. Here in On Night’s Shore the gloomy and much-beset father of our genre is granted a light-filled window in the person of a street urchin named Augie Dubbins. Would that we might see more of this pair.” Laurie R. King, bestselling author of Night Work
“Compelling–I was compelled to keep turning pages. The vocabulary of this novel is rich and delicious. It is to be savored. Savored as a fine wine is rolled over the tongue to catch the bouquet–Silvis’s words are rolled in the mind to catch the bouquet.” Bette Sherman, Back In The Woods Bookstore, BookSense News
“The real delight here is the portrayal of Manhattan’s bawdy underworld and its nefarious characters. Comparisons to Caleb Carr’s The Alienist are inevitable and not unwarranted. Fans of Bruce Alexander’s Sir John Fielding series and Laurie King’s The Beekeeper’s Apprentice will also be delighted with this work. One hopes that we shall see Poe and his young apprentice work many more cases.” Library Journal
“The writing is rich, fluid, packed with controlled energy, unobtrusive. The language, the imagery, the plot flow together without a snag. In fact, Silvis’ talent has made writing this review intensely difficult. How do you describe a perfect dive, or a Ray Brown bass solo, or moonlight on snow? You can’t; they must be experienced. On Night’s Shore attains that kind of perfection—a page-turner that leaves the reader breathless with the force of its beauty.” Erie Times-News
“On Night’s Shore is a sinuous, surprising narrative filled with deceptions, betrayals, unexpected revelations, and moments of high drama. It is also an extravagantly detailed recreation of a particular time and place. Silvis’s rendering of 19th-century New York — the slums and hovels, the workhouses and prisons, the offices and taverns, and the hyperbolic splendor of the mansions of the rich — is precise and thoroughly imagined, giving the novel an unmistakable aura of authenticity…. This multi-layered portrait dominates the novel and accounts for much of its surprising emotional power. Anyone interested in Poe’s career, in American literary history, or in historical fiction at its finest needs to read this book.” Bill Sheehan, Editor, BarnesandNoble.com
MYSTICUS
Wolfhawk Books 1999
“Mysticus is that rarest of rare books, the one that stays in the brain long after the hands have put it down, the book that heaves the heart as much as it haunts the head, the book for the longest of the long runs that yet remain.” Lee K. Abbott, author of Living After Midnight and Wet Places At Noon
“Like most classics, Mysticus cannot be wrapped up and tied with a pretty bow. It is a bit mystery, a bit futurist, a bit literary, a bit fantasy, a bit historical, a bit contemporary; and it is completely compelling. It is woven together like threads in a tapestry: the story of several lives that intersect in imaginative ways…. I fear that if I share some of the details of the plot they will only mislead. It is better to say that this book is for the mystical, the political, the literary, and even the fantasy-lovers among us. I can guarantee a reader will not put down this book thinking it is like anything else she has read. Randall Silvis takes chances with his writing and the result is exquisite, palpable and, yes, mystical.” MyShelf.com
“This book makes me remember why I wanted to read books in the first place…. All the fine storytelling, all the genius with sentences, all the craziness and comedy (have) all been predicted in Silvis’ earlier, brilliant books, but never so maturely, so richly as in Mysticus. I cried, I laughed—what can I say: it’s beautiful.” Lewis Nordan, author of Lightning Song and Wolf Whistle
“Lyrical and parodic, philosophical and stylish and elegant. A tour de force. Mysticus is Silvis’s most important novel to date…a book that washes away genre like passing steps on wet sand; a book where literature and thought are the heroes.” Collages & Bricolages, An International Literary Magazine
“In Mysticus, three narrative flows gracefully intertwine in a powerful novel about love, sex and power. Randall Silvis’s fine storytelling mesmerizes the reader, combining wonder and comedy in an incredibly moving epic that confronts our deepest natures. Light and dark intertwine in a profound revelation of pain and redemption. These vibrant characters enact our greatest desires and embody our greatest fears, yet they touch our hearts and imaginations in ways that are moving and profound. Very highly recommended.” WordWeaving.com
“Silvis writes a symphony…. I read this book like I read as a teenager…in the bathtub, at lunch, after work, during any snippet of time I could steal. Silvis’ language sings with a fairy-tale lyricism undercut by the darkness of the details. Mysticus is an irresistible ride, a most excellent read.” Erie Times-News
“Mysticus is a literary symphony (displaying) a consummate mastery of prose. Highly recommended.” Midwest Book Review
“Mysticus provides an extraordinarily rich reading experience. It’s a love story, a social satire, a family saga that runs from 1949 through 2018. If you aren’t moved and amused and deeply touched by the characters in this book, if you aren’t intrigued by the vision of our near-future or enthralled by the beautiful writing or dazzled by the breadth of imagination at the heart of Mysticus, you must be brain-dead.” LitKit.com
DEAD MAN FALLING
Frankfurt Book Award Nominee
Carrol & Graf 1997
“Randall Silvis mixes (depth of) character and a singularly descriptive voice with a highly charged plot.” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Dead Man Falling is not your standard mystery. Almost poetic, it will delight nature lovers as well as readers who like their mysteries on the literary side.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Randall Silvis is such a good writer, both for his prose and for what he doesn’t do–turn relationships into predictable scenarios.” Philadelphia Inquirer
“A darkly compelling story with complex interior monologues worked seamlessly into the story, and several fine passages in the woods as Mac, ever the hunter, tracks wolverines.” Publishers Weekly
“A superbly written and eminently readable crime novel.” Booklist
“Dead Man Fall is magical, complex and lingering. Silvis has created a worthy hero in the stoic Mac Parris, a man who has retreated into the shadows and laws of nature to hone his beliefs and ultimately to find his true self. The climax is the product of Mac Parris’ belief in earth’s laws, and it will have you cheering.” Shel Buchner, Simegen.com/reviews
“(Silvis) transforms the formula with a lithe lyricism and an astounding literary soul.” Collages & Bricolages
“Dead Man Falling is one of those strangely compelling novels that fits into the genre of crime thriller, yet it is so much more. (The novel) echoes the grace and profundity of much classic literature, such as Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Further, Randall Silvis’s voice moves with a subtle depth and compassion that entrances the reader, drawing one deep within this absorbing narrative. Very highly recommended.” WordWeaving.com
UNDER THE RAINBOW
Permanent Press 1993
“A funny, engaging journey toward some pretty sweet truths.” The New York Times Book Review
“Though comic in tone, the novel does not lightly treat the complexities of love and fidelity in marriage. Silvis’ narration is gentle, and whether employing magic realism or humor, there is an underlying probity to this story.” Publishers Weekly
“A small celebration of human love that never denies unhappy realities: the satire, irony, and exaggeration entertain without undercutting genuine emotion.” Kirkus Reviews
“A funny and optimistic novel. Credit must go to Silvis’ skill at quietly conveying his major characters’ deep affection for each other, his keen prose and humorously effective use of exaggeration.” The Plain Dealer
“One of the funniest books of the year. It is about human resiliency as much as human oddness, and its message is ultimately upbeat. Highly recommended.” Library Journal
AN OCCASIONAL HELL
Named One of the Five Best Crime Books of the Year and a Finalist
for the 1993 Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers
Permanent Press 1993
“An extraordinarily literate mystery.” The Washington Times
“An irresistible page-turner that can satisfy the most demanding literary tastes.” Columbus Dispatch
“The language rings with a bright clarity…. An interesting puzzle packaged in superior prose.” The Mystery Review
“The storyline is riveting–complex, convoluted, and compelling; Silvis engages the reader from first word to last. I couldn’t put this novel down.” Los Angeles Reader
“Intriguing and thought-provoking throughout. Silvis’ voice adds depth to detective fiction.” Associated Press
“Vibrant prose…. Silvis settles into the action, lacing his narrative with astute observations and hard truths. This work succeeds in leaving dark images to linger in the reader’s mind.” Publishers Weekly
“(The hero) DeWalt is so believable it hurts, and one can’t help but cheer him on regardless of what it costs him. You won’t put this book down until the surprise ending.” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
“Randall Silvis has created one of the best detective novels I’ve read in years. An Occasional Hell accumulates word by word, sentence by sentence, into an exceptional novel. The plot, the characters, and the writing are masterful. To say An Occasional Hell is well-written is like calling an atomic bomb an inconvenience. The entire genre of the detective novel is elevated by its publication.” J. Madison Davis, author of Red Knight
“An Occasional Hell is a first-rate novel, a fast-paced, highly suspenseful murder mystery so very well written that it brings new literary distinction to the genre. It is also something else. Mr. Silvis has created original, fully developed characters–again a rarity in the genre–and his protagonist is one of the most appealing and poignant figures in the
recent history of crime fiction. The novel is a stunning performance by a writer of exceptional talent.” John W. Aldridge, author of Talents and Technicians
“An Occasional Hell is, quite simply, one of the best-written modern crime novels I’ve ever read. One has to go to Graham Greene or Thomas Berger for a worthy comparison. With this one effort, Randall Silvis shows what a skilled writer of literary merit can do within an already distinguished popular genre. The standards of crime writing have been on the rise for some years now, and they’ve just been raised by several more notches. Silvis’ secret is in his flawless, sensual style–he is this country’s most pitch-perfect stylist–and in the irresistible detective/writer Ernest DeWalt. I am dazzled by this book.” William Allen, author of Starkweather: Portrait of A Mass Murderer
EXCELSIOR
Henry Holt 1987
“A funny and touching fable (transformed by) the author’s gift for tart comic dialogue and screwball invention. A ruefully comic, entertaining and impressive novel.” Publishers Weekly
“Splendidly funny scenes. (The main character) is ingratiating and despicable; he has a complex appeal to the best and worst in human nature.” Pittsburgh Press
“Considerable pathos and suspense. This is a first novel worth reading.” New York Times Book Review
THE LUCKIEST MAN IN THE WORLD
selected by Joyce Carol Oates as winner of
the 1984 Drue Heinz Literature Prize
University of Pittsburgh Press 1984, Bard/Avon 1985
“Wonderful stories. Randall Silvis is a masterful storyteller.” New York Times Book Review
“Silvis’ long, accomplished novellas have a sense of mystery reminiscent of Garcia Marquez. His unusual characters combine humor and depth. An exciting new voice.” Library Journal
“Silvis is an engaging storyteller…seductively entertaining. (His) ear for natural speech and eye for the ways individuals accommodate themselves to their perceived reality is combined with the dark humor that has the pulse of life.” Publishers Weekly
“(In this) impressive collection, life is richer, more mysterious, and ultimately more humanizing than the usual standard bearers of “black humor” allow for. The imaginative spin Silvis puts on the ball begins in intrigue and ends in darkly comic delight.” Southern Humanities Review
