A little revelation . . . The fantastical tales in this delightful book poke, with gleeful audacity, at the edges of contemporary America and late capitalism . . . Transitions of sex, gender, family, geographical borders, digital communication, language and even neurological states are examined in thrillingly imaginative stories . . . A witty, exuberant collection which variously reminded me of The Paper Menagerie, Friday Black, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Years and Years. Mind-bending, like all the best drugs

Big Issue

There's a skew-whiff wonderfulness to the thirteen tales in this off-kilter look at contemporary America and all its contradictions . . . Tackling hot-button topics, Baker tip-tilts the perspective, offering something at once strange yet instantly familiar . . . It's all masterfully done, and Baker's prose is engagingly easeful, yet hypnotically elegant

Daily Mail

Conspicuously talented . . . Baker never takes the easy way out. He doesn't brandish sharp swords at American capitalism or consumer excess or fears that masquerade as politics. Neither does he construct straw men, then ask the reader to applaud when he lights them on fire. Instead, he demonstrates charity toward his characters, who as Americans stand in for the prismatic nature of the country itself

Washington Post

Satirical and deeply humane, these poignant stories expose the moral bankruptcy at the rotten core of the American social contract

Esquire

Matthew Baker is the rarest of writers, one who can turn complex, high-concept stories into sublime character-driven psalms. His work is both highly original and refreshingly human

Noah Hawley, creator of 'Fargo'

Baker's writing is taut yet lyrical, and brims with sensitivity towards the pitfalls of human experience

The Rumpus