William Maxwell's tales, long and short, have the elusive ability to reveal us to ourselves
- Erica Wagner, The Times
However different their settings the sensibility remains constant. It is decorous, highly civilised and deeply thoughtful
- Anthony Quinn, Observer
All of them share the effect of a brilliant view - as though a window were opened on a contained and vivid scene...There is a rare clarity and economy here - along with that wise measured humanity
- Penelope Lively, Spectator
The stories are formidable...we know we are in the presence of a master craftsman
Sydney Morning Herald
Maxwell's triumph is to bring brightness and a seething, submerged emotion to an America long dead... he offers us scrupulously executed, moving landscapes of American's twentieth century, and they do not fade
- Claire Messud, Times Literary Supplement