William Maxwell's tales, long and short, have the elusive ability to reveal us to ourselves

However different their settings the sensibility remains constant. It is decorous, highly civilised and deeply thoughtful

All of them share the effect of a brilliant view - as though a window were opened on a contained and vivid scene...There is a rare clarity and economy here - along with that wise measured humanity

The stories are formidable...we know we are in the presence of a master craftsman

Maxwell's triumph is to bring brightness and a seething, submerged emotion to an America long dead... he offers us scrupulously executed, moving landscapes of American's twentieth century, and they do not fade

In these stories de Bernieres casts a loveing eye on the world we have lost and invites you to share its intimacies

KNOCKEMSTIFF by Donald Ray Pollock is the best book I have ever read. This is the America they don't let you see on television. This is real literature. It will be read for centuries

It's as if you put David Lynch, Denis Johnson, and a drunk speed freak body builder into a blender. The result are some of the darkest, wildest, most messed up, hilarious stories I've ever read. Knockemstiff is really something

This short story collection gives those new to her oeuvre a chance to delve into gems from her past...precociously vibrant