James Morrow - City of Truth

James Morrow [is] a literary swashbuckler, his proud vessel a stalwart craft composed of rationalist thought... his weapons a rapier intelligence and a Swiftian gift for satire. The Washington Post Book World

Morrows satire is funny and sad, and increases our ability to see the little bits of truth in our own world. The Denver Post

Move over Kurt Vonnegut. James Morrow has put on the mantle of Americas best satirist. James Gunn, the University of Kansas

[James Morrow] is an originalstylistically ingenious, savagely funny, always unpredictable. The Philadelphia Inquirer

Morrow understands theology like a theologian and psychology like a psychologist, but he writes like an angel. Richard Elliott Friedman, author of The Hidden Book in the Bible

As near as I can tell, Morrow is the greatest kind of American author. Hes funny and profane, bighearted and brave, he never takes the same risk twice in his satire, and for some reason I cant explain, Ive waited almost 20 years to express my love for his work. The Stranger

[The] best SF novel published in English in the last ten years. It has the scope of Childhoods End, the verbal playfulness of Cats Cradle, and the ethical seriousness and comic rage of Rasselas. American Book Review

The story zips along with vivid images, and the message is clear: A heady brew, the wine of violence packs a hangover. Los Angeles Times

[A] twelve-course literary banquet spiced with intriguing characterizations and inventive plotting... Morrow draws his plot and characters together like a spinner patiently working at a spinning wheel, drawing fine threads of gold from seeming flax.... It is a triumphant writing performance that should guarantee an eager audience for future Morrow novels. Atlantic City Press

Beneath the high-tech space trappings, the author paints a nice little fable about what it means to be human... Are hatred and blood-lust as necessary for mans soul as peace and tranquility? In this imaginative novel, James Morrow proposes a thought-provoking answer. Fort Lauderdale News

Morrow spins a satiric examination of violence that runs from light comedy to Swiftian bitterness, without ever letting the reader feel smugly superior. [He] knows the value of pushing issues to extremes to highlight a central point and the effectiveness of allegory in various guises. Newsday

An anthropological fable that, for all its cool intelligence, bustles with life... Morrow writes a breezy blend of philosophical fiction and blood-stirring adventure. Penthouse

Technology will improve remorselessly until we can be wired in so completely that we cant tell whats real and what isnt. The Continent of Lies... deals with this subject brilliantly. Arthur C. Clarke

The Continent of Lies is superbly crafted. It deftly blends technology, fantasy, and myth and spices the mixture with adventure, humor, and wit. The San Diego Union

[A] literary cruise missile. It hugs the readers consciousness as it roars through time and cultural dimensions, leaving readers stunned, delighted and baffled.... Morrow writes so plausibly and so effortlessly about the impossible and the unimaginable that little bits and pieces of his narrative cling to your subconscious.... This is high octane writing indeed. Atlantic City Press

James Morrow takes you to places you have never been before.... There are Dante-like descents into various kinds of hell, andwhat would a book about dreams be without it?a generous dollop of Freudian symbolism. Los Angeles Times

[With] a new plot twist with every turn of the page an encapsulation would be impossible, as well as spoiling the fun. But when was the last time you read any SF that had a meeting of the characters inside the bloated corpse of a giant alien whale? What a story. Read it. West Coast Review of Books

The most affecting account of nuclear devastation I have read in a work of fiction. Newsday

Having no answers but only prophecy, Morrow is unafraid to feel pain or to make us feel it.... Astute, highly engaging, and finally, moving. Los Angeles Times

This Is the Way the World Ends begins where Dr. Strangelove ends. It is a tale told from the other side of the gravequite literally from the point of view of the deadand what makes it so wonderful is not merely that it is informed about how and why the world may end, but because throughout it remains a true tale, rich in narrative and moral complexity, magically inventive and comic.... [James Morrow] has written a story of the way and the why of our dear and foolish worldits sources of life and of deaththat is utterly dazzling and memorable. The Philadelphia Inquirer

Add to this scenario great suspense, fast action, a complex and sympathetic protagonist, and unrestrained black comedy, and the result is a wonderfully surreal novel worthy of comparison with the best political satire of this century. Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Just when you start thinking that everything that can possibly be done with the post-catastrophe novel has been done, along comes James Morrow to prove you wrong.... This Is the Way the World Ends is a magnificent surrealistic dark comedy that will scare you even as it amuses you, and it will leave you deeply moved. This is one of those books that other writers wish they had written. Pittsburgh Press

If Kurt Vonnegut had collaborated with Jonathan Schell on an antinuclear novel, the result might be This Is the Way the World Ends. The New York Times Book Review

Very few books make me cry, but this one did.... James Morrow has a surrealistic edge to his imagination and a devastating ability to disembowel by satire. Controversy in Review

[Its] lineage might be Stranger in a Strange Land out of Slaughterhouse-Five.... Such a summary as this can barely suggest the dense, hyperkinetic plotting of James Morrows novel, its welter of acute detail... or the vigor of its cartoonishly sharp-edged characters. Only Begotten Daughter is a rich, intelligent tour de force. The New York Times Book Review

Imagine, if you will, Joseph Heller at his satirical best writing The Satanic Verses. Sort of a Catechism-22. What you would have would be close to James Morrows Only Begotten Daughter, a delightfully devilish novel that tiptoes along the fringes of science fiction while treading heavily on imperious practitioners of Western theology. Chicago Tribune

A cheerfully secular rendition of the Second Coming... Morrows ambitious and wide-ranging satire plays straight with Scripture, reserving as its targets the intolerances and vanities of fallible humanity... Only Begotten Daughter is an intelligent, humane, and unusually funny novel. Newsday

Morrow unerringly targets nerve endings that most readers wont know they have until he zaps them, throwing out wild bits of social commentary and incidental barbs with impeccable timing. This novel invites comparison with Vonnegut and even Rushdie. The Washington Post

Its probably an insurmountable challenge for a reviewer to try to capture in a few hundred words the captivating delirium of this runaway carrousel of a book.... Morrows novel is suffused with a peculiar innocence, an earnest inquiry into the nature of godhead, and an enduring if battered optimism about the importance of love.... If the narrative makes us flinch, its only because it is itself so unflinching in its dissection of human foibles and cruelty. Ultimately, Morrow has given us a frank and fascinating novel that provokes rather than offendsa remarkable work of fiction with the power to disturb our complacency and challenge us to consider anew the thorny questions of life and faith.