"Irresistible... its intelligence, its honesty and, above all, its compassion provide a kind of existential balm-a comfort not unlike the sort you might find by opening a bottle of wine and having a long conversation with (yes, really) a true friend." --Curtis Sittenfeld, The New York Times Book Review

"In the crucible of [Miriam Toews'] genius, tears and laughter are ground into some magical elixir that seems like the essence of life." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"[A] wrenchingly honest, darkly funny novel. (Grade: A)" --Entertainment Weekly

"Bold, brash and big-hearted.... Toews writes from the point of view of Yoli, whose interior monologue reads like a cross between David Foster Wallace and Robin Williams if both were, in fact, a 40-something Mennonite woman with authority issues. She's a smart aleck with heart, a philosopher with a comic's timing." --The Dallas Morning News

"Toews (Irma Voth) does a wonderful job with her characters, none of whom are perfect, which makes them all the more real. It requires a talented author to take a serious subject and write such an engaging, enjoyable work." --Library Journal (starred)

"Touching and unexpectedly humorous." --Marie Claire

"The novel, which is essentially about complex family relationships, is heartbreaking and ultimately forgiving, as Yolandi wonders what courage is needed to end a life versus the courage it takes to endure. You'll want to call your sister or your mom after finishing." --Bustle

"[A] sad, wise, often funny and very good novel." --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"'All My Puny Sorrows' is a bittersweet story about those who survive and those who can't fight the current." --Minneapolis StarTribune

"[A] triumph in its depiction of the love the sisters share." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"[A] masterful, original investigation into love, loss and survival." --Kirkus (Starred Review)

"All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews: The premise of Toews's sixth novel, released to critical acclaim in Canada earlier this year, is simple and devastating: there are two adult sisters, and one of them wants to die. She's a wildly successful and in-demand concert pianist, but she longs for self-annihilation. It's a premise that could easily be grindingly unbearable, but Toews is a writer of considerable subtlety and grace, with a gift for bringing flashes of lightness, even humor, to the darkest of tales." --The Millions

"Funny and irresistibly warm" --Isaac Fitzgerald, BuzzFeed

"A harrowing and often very funny novel ... Every page yields a surprise, a laugh, or a line that will make your breath catch in your throat." --Dan Kois, Slate

"As jagged and ripped open as a freshly torn heart." --The Boston Globe

"Thanks to the prodigious talent of author Miriam Toews, "All My Puny Sorrows" is an off-kilter, frequently funny and begrudgingly life-affirming romp through, well, death.... a novel with such wincingly painful honesty and mordant humor." --Los Angeles Times