“Writing with serene passion and gentle humor, Merullo powerfully reveals both the resiliency and fragility of life and love… This is not a little love story. It is, quite utterly, grand.”
– Booklist

“ Merullo has a graceful way with dialogue, allowing his characters' wit—sometimes caustic, sometimes sweet—to unfold naturally. For all its sadness, his narrative is never maudlin; for all its familiarity, it's never trite. No tears are jerked in the delivery of this solidly satisfying little romance, whose author is something of a Houdini in the art of escaping banality.”
– Washington Post’s Book World

“A poignant look at a life with roots… Merullo has created characters that seem almost too real to be imagined… The telling of their stories is as fresh and real as people from your own childhood.”
– The Philadelphia Inquirer

“What makes In Revere, In Those Days stand out from most other contemporary novels is its graceful prose, its deep and decent characters, and its quiet insistence upon the fundamental dignity of humanity.”
– Seattle Times

“[This] novel is so true that it has the authenticity of a memoir. It will, I think, be compared—and favorably—to A Separate Peace… I can't remember the last time I was moved to tears by a novel in the way that I was, at several junctures, with In Revere, In Those Days. It is an extraordinary achievement.”
– Anita Shreve

“Beautiful and shapely… The rhythm of the chapters beguile…The sacrament of Italian American family lives in the heart of the words, displayed with perfect clarity and utter humanity… A pleasure to read, and to read again.”
– Booklist (starred review)

“Emotionally complex, politically intelligent, beautifully written: Among the best from a novelist in the classic American tradition.”
– Kirkus (starred review)

“Sentimentality is cheap. Real emotion is difficult to render. Memoirists walk a tightrope between sentimentality and simple feeling. What gives Revere Beach Elegy its vitality and ‘worth’ is the author’s taut prose and his fearlessness to run across that tightrope.”
– Greg Lalas, Boston Magazine

“I’ve never met Roland Merullo, or even read anything he’s written before now. Yet today I feel as if I've known him my whole life… At the close of Elegy, the reader is comfortably walking alongside a man who has grown into himself, accepted and embraced his past.”
– Ray Suarez, The Washington Post

“For ‘average hackers’ who struggle weekly to lower their scores, this slender, accessible guide offers insight into the emotional stumbling blocks that get in the way of improvement and, most importantly, enjoyment of the game. Merullo is not a professional golfer. He is a fiction writer whose books have explored the legacy of family relationships and the juxtaposition of personal and national drama. In his first nonfiction title, he continues his theme of relationships, using the lessons of golf that reach beyond the swing plane into our personal life. Readers who enjoyed Michael Murphy's Zen of golf classic, Golf in the Kingdom, should have room for this slender, spiritual journey in their Christmas stocking.”
– Publishers Weekly

“A golfer for all seasons... Merullo provides more than enough food for thought for even the most contemplative golfer.”
– Washington Post Book World

“I won’t mince words about Revere Beach Boulevard. It’s a great novel—ambitious, heartfelt, generous, and oh-so-skilled.”
 – Richard Russo

“Revere Beach Boulevard is that very thing one hopes for in fiction and rarely finds: a powerful story wedded to a unique voice set in a truly unforgettable landscape… A joy to read.”
– Anita Shreve

“A book so full of heart that pages almost pulse with it. Roland Merullo creates a family of flesh and blood and deep feelings.”
– Linda Crosson, Dallas Morning News

“The finest novel to come out of the gritty side streets and dangerous neighborhoods of urban American since William Kennedy’s Ironweed… Revere Beach Boulevard is a beautifully written evocation of place, of family, and of love, by an extraordinarily talented novelist who deserves our most serious attention.”
– Howard Frank Mosher

“Gripping and compassionate, daring and tender, written with the crisp assurance of an insider and the skill of a modern master. Roland Merullo has accomplished the near impossible—combining thrills and brilliant writing to produce this wonderfully satisfying tale of love in danger.”
– Elinor Lipman

“Roland Merullo’s ingenious novel… is stamped on every page with a veracity that could only have been imagined. I love the pace the pace and texture of this book, its urgency and ultimate compassion for what gets lost in the translation from one phrase in a country’s history to another. There is wonderful writing in these pages. I hope A Russian Requiem finds the large audience it deserves.”
 – Jay Parini

“A Russian Requiem has the brilliance that only comes when a gifted storyteller has had substantial experience with this subject. It is a remarkable book… beautifully written, filled with large characters clearly rendered.”
– Craig Nova

“The scope, power, and magnitude of this book amazed me… Merullo’s understanding of the Russian soul goes far beyond that of any other American author I’ve ever read. If I were to pick the one book this reminds me of more than any other, it would The Quiet American [by] Graham Greene… But in many ways I think A Russian Requiem is better.”
– Joe McGinniss

“A marvelous fictional exploration of a potentially great, but deeply flawed, country gone absolutely haywire… In its gritty authenticity, its keen political and historical savvy, in its heartfelt grasp of a human and national tragedy, and most of all its splendid characters, A Russian Requiem is one of the very best novels I’ve read in years.”
 – Howard Frank Mosher

“After his lyrical literary debut (Leaving Losapas, 1991), Merullo ventures into more commercial territory—in a highbrow thriller set during Russia's 1991 ‘undeclared civil war.’ A moving novel—with great cinematic potential—that brilliantly captures the historically tense moment of Russia on the verge of freedom, just before the attempted coup and the Party's last gasps.”
– Kirkus reviews