"Writing that bristles with emotive power." -- Library Journal

"Brilliant.... How lucky for all of us that he chose to write fiction." -- Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto

"These stories linger with you like a delicious aftertaste." -- Abraham Verghese, author of My Own Country and The Tennis Partner

"Vibrant debut story collection...Murray's prose is strong and agile...the affecting portraits make this collection emotionally resonant and enormously gratifying" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Stunning short story collection...writer to watch." -- Booklist (starred)

"Remarkable...marks the debut of an extraordinary American writer." -- Buffalo News

"As gorgeous and breathtaking as the winged marvels of the title...stories such as these remind us what constitutes humanity." -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"The eight stories in John Murray's first short-story collection achieve, individually and - collectively, an extraordinary impact and depth." -- San Diego Tribune

"Murray's stories are a genuine cultural breakthrough....Adventures of the mind, rich in human feeling...departures from any other...fiction. -- Muriel Spark

"Teeming with...high-stakes wisdom, Murray's stories offer a map of possibility where anything can happen." -- Boston Globe

Murray's stories are what you might get if you combined Ethan Canin, Andrea Barrett and Jhumpa Lahiri with Anton Chekhov. -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"Elegant...sensitive. His writing talent has no limit." -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Brilliant...Murray weaves his experience...into gorgeous narratives." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Beguiling...an astute debut collection." -- Book Forum

"A terrific collection. -- Washington Post Book World

"This wise, compassionate and exquisite book valiantly wrestles with the eternal dichotomy of mind and body." -- Los Angeles Times

"Remarkable. These are intelligent, sensitive stories. Readers will do well to watch for more from this gifted writer." -- Charlotte Observer

"Stories that are as affecting as they are suspenseful....Mr. Murray has made an impressive and assured debut." -- Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

"Compelling, compassionate, and quietly inspirational, each of these modest tales is as satisfying as a novel ...exquisite." -- Daily Mail (London)

"You leave his stories feeling you have been in the company....of an impressive writer [and] human being." -- Jack Kemp, Sunday Times (London)

"Iridescent" -- The Observer (UK)

"Fiction that holds firmly to scientific principles and comes with a harrowing edge of reality." -- International Herald Tribune

"Ambitious, varied, and strong.... To say that Murray...is a prodigious talent is something of an understatement." -- Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books