The first review of my new book of short stories has come out. It was published in Booklist. It is short and sweet so I’m including it here in its entirety.
From Booklist, Spring 2011.
“With dark humor and deep compassion, Niedzviecki, cultural critic and author of The Peep Diaries (2009), delivers a haunting collection peopled by characters on the verge of despair. An aging Jewish businessman, tormented by memories of his youth in a post-WWII displacement camp, becomes more popular than he can handle after creating a successful line of flavored cream cheese. A pregnant tenth grader is morally torn when her unborn fetus tries convincing her to abort it before both their lives are ruined. A dying man commissioned by the government to create new colors is challenged by a young revolutionary. God’s personal assistant, tired of his boss’s tyranny and hypocritical lifestyle, concocts a plan to rid the world of God once and for all. And a lonely husband develops an obsession with watching funerals online after his wife proves incapable of processing her friend’s recent death. Like David Means’ stories, these convention-defying examples written in tight, punchy prose examine the fine lines between love and obsession, failure and success. A moving and amusingly varied collection.”