Reviews

"It's nothing less than heartwarming, soul-thumping and, at its best, brain-emulsifying."
-"Los Angeles Times
,,"."hilarious... when Pendarvis is merely funny, he is still really, really funny."
--"Esquire
"
"There is a kind of ruthless, terrible humor that can provoke utterly helpless laughter, and that, I think, would be Jack Pendarvis' specialty. In his debut collection of nine stories and a novella, The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure, there are laughs aplenty...[and] beneath the laughs, we see his soft spot for the struggling loser, his keen eye for the Southern eccentric. So we'll take the laughs with gratitude."
--"Times-Picayune
"
"Jack Pendarvis is a very funny writer. And the longer one of his stories gets, the funnier it becomes...Readers who are looking for a bright new comic talent will find that Pendarvis is their man. Grade: A-"
--"Rocky Mountain News
"
"When Pendarvis aims for laughs, he gets them."
--"Time Out Chicago
"
.,."a charming pastiche of Southern wit, with characters evoked through humorous asides and eccentric tendencies...While the literary jabs found here are highly entertaining, it's the depictions of fragile humanity and the subtle social critiques that are truly affecting. Satire both hilarious and profound."
--"Kirkus Reviews "(STARRED)
.,."the author displays a wit comparable to the best found online at McSweeney's ...affecting as well as funny."
--"Publishers Weekly
"
.,."had me laughing out loud...Pendarvis populates his stories with lots of colorful characters, and I think they're all people we've ridden the bus with. Even if you wouldn't want to go home with them, they'refun to watch."
--"The Record-Courier
"
"Pendarvis writes stories that come at you full tilt in language so kinetic words shoot off the page like sparks into darkness. He's imaginative and incisive, with a fine eye for the absurd, and he uses language the way pyromaniacs use fire."
-- William Gay, author of Provinces of Night
"Jack Pendarvis' stories are some of the saddest I've ever read, so how come I'm laughing so hard? The wonderfully titled title piece has invented and perfected its own category or form, portraying madness as being human, bringing dread to an art, the prose so audacious and revealing it makes you squirm in your chair. And the shorter pieces, hilarious on the surface, tragic deeper in, and devastating at every level. I'll add one thing: Go and see Pendarvis read these wicked stories...You'll thank me, I promise."
--Tom Franklin, author of Hell at the Breech
"If Sedaris had a deep-Southern accent and wrote fiction....If Beckett watched too much cable TV....If Kafka was a really funny guy....Aw, forget it. Here comes Jack Pendarvis with one crazy hilarious collection. It's not like any other book, and it's a whole lot funnier than most."
--Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama"
"
"Mr. Pendarvis is a very, very funny human being, one of the funniest I've ever read."
--Michael Knight, author of Good Night, Nobody

" It's nothing less than heartwarming, soul-thumping and, at its best, brain-emulsifying."
- "Los Angeles Times
"" ... hilarious... when Pendarvis is merely funny, he is still really, really funny."
-- "Esquire
"
" There is a kind of ruthless, terrible humor that can provoke utterly helpless laughter, and that, I think, would be Jack Pendarvis' specialty. In his debut collection of nine stories and a novella, The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure, there are laughs aplenty... [and] beneath the laughs, we see his soft spot for the struggling loser, his keen eye for the Southern eccentric. So we'll take the laughs with gratitude."
-- "Times-Picayune
"
" Jack Pendarvis is a very funny writer. And the longer one of his stories gets, the funnier it becomes... Readers who are looking for a bright new comic talent will find that Pendarvis is their man. Grade: A-"
-- "Rocky Mountain News
"
" When Pendarvis aims for laughs, he gets them."
-- "Time Out Chicago
"
" ... a charming pastiche of Southern wit, with characters evoked through humorous asides and eccentric tendencies... While the literary jabs found here are highly entertaining, it's the depictions of fragile humanity and the subtle social critiques that are truly affecting. Satire both hilarious and profound."
-- "Kirkus Reviews "(STARRED)
" ... the author displays a wit comparable to the best found online at McSweeney's ... affecting as well as funny."
-- "Publishers Weekly
"
" ... had me laughing out loud... Pendarvis populates his stories with lots of colorful characters, and I think they're all people we've ridden the bus with. Even if you wouldn't want to go home with them, they're fun to watch."
-- "The Record-Courier
"
" Pendarvis writes stories that come at you full tilt in language so kinetic words shoot off the page like sparks into darkness. He's imaginative and incisive, with a fine eye for the absurd, and he uses language the way pyromaniacs use fire."
-- William Gay, author of Provinces of Night
" Jack Pendarvis' stories are some of the saddest I've ever read, so how come I'm laughing so hard? The wonderfully titled title piece has invented and perfected its own category or form, portraying madness as being human, bringing dread to an art, the prose so audacious and revealing it makes you squirm in your chair. And the shorter pieces, hilarious on the surface, tragic deeper in, and devastating at every level. I'll add one thing: Go and see Pendarvis read these wicked stories... You'll thank me, I promise."
-- Tom Franklin, author of Hell at the Breech
" If Sedaris had a deep-Southern accent and wrote fiction... .If Beckett watched too much cable TV... .If Kafka was a really funny guy... .Aw, forget it. Here comes Jack Pendarvis with one crazy hilarious collection. It's not like any other book, and it's a whole lot funnier than most."
-- Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama"
"
" Mr. Pendarvis is a very, very funny human being, one of the funniest I've ever read."
-- Michael Knight, author of Good Night, Nobody