by Hugh Blanton

“A reader may get the idea that Gerstler loves to write about women behaving badly (there's even a Mae West sonnet in here), but she says what she's really writing about is women behaving boldly.”

by David Estrinel

“[Ripped Backsides] not only fulfilled its promise to deliver a dopamine-laced travel log/urban anthropologist shadow diary but also an erudite commentary on societal decay and disconnection that rings true today, as much as it did decades ago, if not more.”

by David Estringel

“At their core, despite the sense of loss and chaos and alienation one perceives through their reading, Cvencek’s poems convey an optimism (if not in glimpses and glimmers) that promise the reader a hopeful release from his or her own demons.”

by Timothy Petkovic

“The Emperor of Gladness is so overwhelming in its brilliance, so full-bodied and ambitious, you have to submit to it. Bloody hell. Shit, he’s good. Piss off, any critics. All hail Ocean Vuong.”

by Christie Chapman

“In this pressure-cooker world, where so many seem to be chasing after the top dogs, the glitz and clout, the Big Five, the “template for success”—Take It Personally, in its unbothered originality, is refreshing. “A+.”

by Eric Vanderwall

“The Sugar Kremlin presents another fine entry in the catalogue of Sorokin’s works available in English. Although The Sugar Kremlin is a sequel in a loose sense, it is not a bad entry point for readers new to Sorokin, and Joshua Cohen’s interview with the author…is especially illuminating.”

by Dylan Desmond

“…the death of innocence is ultimately the same outfit as coming of age. The body wearing either might appear different to the unexamined eye, but on closer inspection the two share the same material and craftsmanship. Truly, the only difference is in the lighting, which is outside the outfit altogether.”

by Dylan Desmond

“Like a drop of water and coffee combining on a plate, Thomas understands he and Anne’s connection. “I was her tragic double.” Both aspects of being and non-being connecting as simultaneously living and dead instances the two shared a current of understanding in ignorance. Like the sun, using all its energy to make itself night.”

by Dylan Desmond

“At its core, the story is an existential conflict within the narrator. To take the meaning of that sentence as a microcosm, the story is about the human qualities of playing God.”

by Red, EIC of Alien Buddha Press

“…this chapbook is a slam dunk for The Opiate Books. It is sharp, strange, and deeply relatable. A spicy, barefoot page-turner that will sit comfortably on any poetry lover’s shelf.”

by Hugh Blanton

“If Kafka passed a torch from his insurance company office, Gergley is bearing it now in a CVS breakroom with his own modern twists.”