"This is some of his finest writing, and a major work by any measure."--Michael LaPointe, Times Literary Supplement

"Murnane writes in a curious and faintly otherworldly rhythm. His sentences are often flat and his paragraphs recursive, yet build up to moments of evocative and surprisingly lyrical insight and beauty."--Daniel Swift, The Spectator

"The emotional conviction...is so intense, the somber lyricism so moving, the intelligence behind the chiselled sentences so undeniable, that we suspend all disbelief."--J. M. Coetzee

"A genius." --Teju Cole

"Murnane's sentences are little dialectics of boredom and beauty,
flatness and depth. They combine a matter-of-factness, often approaching
coldness, with an intricate lyricism." --Ben Lerner, New Yorker

"Murnane's is a vision that blesses and beatifies every detail." --Washington Post

"Murnane has proven, over four decades and some dozen books, to be
one of [Australia's] most original and distinctive writers." --Paris Review
"Strange and wonderful and nearly impossible to describe." --New York Times