An interview at The Faster Times, not called “Hallberg’s Triumph,” though not for lack of trying.
An interview at Pages to Pixels.
Super-cool. Some nice person named Lily Richards reviews Field Guide for 95bFM in…New Zealand.
An interview at Canteen.
Switzerland’s Neue Zürcher Zeitung enters the “Reading Labyrinth,” and comes out “richly rewarded.”
Not sure exactly what this review from Der Spiegel says, but I gather it’s positive.
A Field Guide to the North American Family is “a small Gesamtkunstwerk of great immediacy,” writes Friederike Albaat of Madame magazine. “A terrific social novel building interwoven narratives around the lives of two Long Island families, with cross-references to others chapters, as one might find in field guides about birds or trees. The book is a kind of swan song for the endangered species: the typical American suburban family.”
And a nice write-up in the prestigious Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Approximately: “A savvy postmodern counterpart to the realistic social panorama that is back in vogue with Jonathan Franzen’s latest ‘corrections.’ Ein Naturführer der amerikanischen familie is a novel in the form of a dictionary or an illustrated field guide, which in its open, interactive, and nonlinear structure recalls models such as Milorad Pavic’s Dictionary of the Khazars. . . [and] a novel that deals with almost all aspects of family life. It’s about trust and betrayal, about jealousy and love, about the search for meaning and recognition, about cohesion, alienation, sorrow and indifference. But above all, we see here once again the question of guilt. It floats above all the intricate events that pervade Hallberg’s literary debut. Who is or feels responsible for a separation, a death, an accident, the reckless pharmaceutical experimentation of children? Hallberg grounds his frequently moving, profound and tragic history with sarcasm and humor. . . . A stimulating and, above all, ambitious debut, unusual and very beautiful in its design.”
Early reviews from Germany: A Field Guide to the North American Family is “picture book, encyclopedia, hypertext, satire, social and psychological analysis, all in one. . . a wonderful novel. . . . Create[s] a beautiful effect, as we reconstruct the family and the novel form and see them for what they are: fragile and based on illusions.” -Ulrich Rudenauer, Die Tageszeitung. And: “Extremely well-drawn and well-written, [and] simply different . . . No matter how one moves through the text – by cross-references, alphabetically, or just page-by-page, a bittersweet, finely observed portrait emerges.” – Hamburger Abendblat
Field Guide in German: “An American family saga? A multidimensional book of art? A book that reads differently every time? Ein Naturführer der amerikanischen Familie is all this and more: a firecracker of wit, insight, and storytelling.” -Saša Stanišić, author of How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone.
Ann Kingman of Books on the Nightstand discusses Field Guide: “I really love everything about this.”
The Descent of Man, a short story collection-in-progress, was the runner-up for the 2009 Prairie Schooner Book Prize.
“Castaways,” a short story, is a Pushcart Prize nominee.
Some kind soul or souls landed Field Guide on the longlist for the The Believer Book Award. Thanks, Mom!
A press release for the NYFA Fellowship. Awfully nice to be in such fine company.
“Sex on a picnic table?” Read about my ignominious Literary Death Match defeat at The New Yorker’s Book Bench.
At The Elegant Variation, Jim Ruland adds Field Guide to his list of “Good Things That Come in Small Packages”: “With its mish-mash of styles…the illustrated novella-in-flash is unexpectedly astute. Perfect for road trips with people you hate.” Which is a good thing (I hope)?
The April issue of PDN profiles A Field Guide to the North American Family: “The Hungates and the Harrisons…in a pre-digital era might have populated the pages of novels and short stories by John Cheever, John Updike and Richard Yates.”
AFGNAF: “Just plain brilliant” – Flagpole.
Field Guide will be an “Editors Recommend” pick in the February issue of PRINT magazine.
“A Field Guide to the North American Family is a beautiful book,” writes Andrea Chmielewski of Bookslut. “Beautiful because of the gentle way the story of two suburban families unravels for the reader. Beautiful because each of the short entries that make up the novella is accompanied by a photograph, sometimes bizarre or haunting, but always a pleasure to behold. Beautiful because the book itself has all the elements that make the act of reading seem like an event.” Read the complete review here.
FILE Magazine features Field Guide: “Whether you read straight through or by meandering through its entries, by the end you have taken a heartbreaking journey through an chaotic and intense period in [...] two families’ lives. But it isn’t just the story, its structure, or prose that makes this book so ingenious. The book is a visual feast as well.” The FILE article also offers an interview and lush reproductions of pages from the book. Check it out here.
I recently went 10 rounds with Ed Champion of The Bat Segundo Show. Judge the audio here.
“There’s an appealing philosophical sweetness underlying the glancing surfaces,” writes Levi Asher of Literary Kicks. “If you buy this book as a Christmas present for everybody it reminds you of, you’ll be buying a lot of copies, and why shouldn’t you?” Read the complete review here.
“A remarkable collaboration…beautifully produced,” writes Rachel Fershleiser of Grand Street News. “Reveal[s] dark secrets and explore[s] the profound minutiae of modern life.” Read her article about the book’s genesis and the gallery show here.
“Intensely personal,” writes David Willems of Hotel St. George Press. “A sad and beautiful book. [Hallberg's] writing is luminous.” Read the complete review here.
“One of the smartest voices in the literary blogosphere,” writes Mark Sarvas of The Elegant Variation.
You may also enjoy listening to a September 10 interview on WFMU-FM’s “The Speakeasy” here.
And you can read a recent interview with Shane Mehling of E-Notes here.
