"Crackles with vicious intelligence."--Entertainment Weekly

"A harrowing tale. . . . Sends chills down the spine."--The Seattle Times

"Fascinating. . . . A horror story that plays with the power of words."--The Plain Dealer

"Laden with metaphor. . . . It reads like a dream, complete with all the associative richness that comparison might suggest."--The New York Times Book Review

"An exciting page-turner." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A rich testament to Marcus' gifts" --Los Angeles Times

"A well-oiled heartbreak machine." --New York

"In the guise of a horror novel (albeit one written by a supremely intelligent literary novelist), Marcus has delivered a subtle meditation on the necessity as well as the drawbacks of human communication . . . in searing, sometimes hallucinatory prose." --Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Thrilling, boasting an erudition and an obsessiveness that smacks both of Jorge Luis Borges and of Darren Aronofsky."--The Boston Globe

"As I read The Flame Alphabet, late into the night, feverishly turning the pages, I felt myself, increasingly, in the presence of the classic." --Michael Chabon

"Marcus succeeds in creating a parallel universe that mirrors a side of human social life that might be more comfortably concealed." --The Columbus Dispatch

"An apocalyptic nightmare. Its vision is eerie, droll and heartbreaking, both lavishly written and haunting to behold. . . .[Marcus's] use of language could hardly be more vibrant."--Portland Press Herald "Some of the most thoughtful and moving writing I've ever read about family life." --Michael Jauchen, The Rumpus

"Disturbing and remarkable."--LA Review of Books

"This novel will cause many mouths to open. Dialogue will ensue. People will have something to say."--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A mystery, a compulsive page-turner" --Salon

"The Flame Alphabet has the force of a nightmare, a testament to Marcus's skill." --NPR

"Ben Marcus is the rarest kind of writer: a necessary one."--Jonathan Safran Foer

"The Flame Alphabet is less about linguistics than the decay of relationships, the fracturing of familial loyalties, and the everyday heartbreak of human estrangement."--The Millions

"Ben Marcus is a genius, one of the most daring, funny, morally engaged and brilliant writers, someone whose work truly makes a difference in the world."--George Saunders

"A brutal, wonderful book, streaked with the sickly brown and gray hues of Philip K. Dick and David Cronenberg."--The Onion, A.V. Club

"A truly strange, original vision of a post-linguistic world." --Slant Magazine

"Freakishly sad and incredibly good."--Bookforum

"An authentic meditation on the sacred cruelty of communication that will leave his readers speechless."--San Francisco Chronicle

"You will not read too many books like this in your life. --The Financial Times

"For all its surreal touches, it packs an emotional wallop." --Wired