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| "A cinematic visual receptiveness prevails
throughout, the characters moving in a velvety cream of detail
reminiscent of Nabokov in the way it spills around the tiniest
minutiae..." -- The Guardian (UK) -- 03/28/06 |
| "But the novel offers many riches and pleasures along the way, thanks to the mastery (almost unheard-of in a beginning novelist) with which Phillips moves among the centers of action and reflection that crystallize around his major characters." -- World & I |
| “Ingenious.” – The New York Times |
| “Think Graham Greene or W. Somerset Maugham …
[and] stop yearning for that elegant, entertaining novel that used
to be. Thanks to Phillips, it’s right here, right now.” -- Newsweek |
| “The Hemingways of the East bloc are finally here
… [Prague] stays aloft on Phillips’s astonishingly verbal verve.”
-- Time |
| “Few first novels blaze with such all-knowing
poise; like Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections), Phillips is a
wisecracking microbiologist of society and spirit.” – People |
| “Prague shimmers with youthful energy and the
seductive power of fleeting possibilities.” -- Time Out New
York |
| “Dazzling … brilliant … the most memorable
fiction debut of the year.” -- Publisher’s Weekly |
| “[Phillips] tiptoes bravely upon the thematic
terrain of Eastern European heavyweights like Milan Kundera, but
with a cool yet swervingly romantic (and American) take.” -- Men’s
Journal |
| “Stunningly ambitious.” -- Harper’s
Bazaar |
| “The author commands a sweep of history and a
mastery of language that makes this debut highly impressive.
Phillips’s exhilarating exploration of time, memory, and nostalgia
bring to mind such giants as Proust and Joyce.” -- Library
Journal |
| “The first half of 2002 alone can boast brilliant
first novels … Good as these are, they’re surpassed by Arthur
Phillips’s fiendishly clever Prague.” -- Kirkus
Reviews |
| “Phillips … depicts time and place with skill and
affection in this ambitious first novel.” -- Booklist |
| “Arthur Phillips’s bold and ambitious novel,
Prague, is one of those rare books that help define and identify a
whole generation, in the same way that Hemingway’s The Sun Also
Rises introduced his lost generation.” -- Pat Conroy, author
of The Prince of Tides |
| “A hip-hop remix of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, a
meditation on a generation, a polemic, a love story, a new branch of
sociology, Prague tries to do it all and succeeds.” -- Pagan
Kennedy, author of Black Livingstone |
| “An intricate and worldly-wise novel, with sly and
acute perceptions on every page, Prague sets itself the challenge of
extending the tradition of brainy Central European fiction from an
American perspective, and succeeds handily.” -- Phillip
Lopate, author of Portrait of My Body |
| Wry and skillful...marvelous
flights of erudite fancy...a rare balance of wisdom and imagination.
-- Adam Goodheart, The New York Times Book Review |
| Phillips' novel has scope,
historical perspective and complexity, especially rare in most first
novels…Manages to convey volumes about his characters…
Heartbreaking…a masterpiece of caustic satire….A substantive
book. -- Heller McAlpin, Los Angeles Times Book Review |
| Rhapsodic...complex and
melancholic...earnest, atmospheric...His Budapest is...a canvas on
which to draw a carefully detailed contrast. -- Julian
Rubenstein, Washington Post Book World |
| Wry, savvy, bittersweet…
astonishingly assured… a bravura performance… The whole novel
sings out with seductive Èlan… A gravitas beneath the book's
bright surface calls to mind the rueful-romantic notes of F. Scott
Fitzgerald's best fiction. -- Michael Upchurch, The Seattle
Times |
| Arthur Phillips' debut novel is
often intoxicating. His descriptions can astonish, several
characters hook you, and the conceit that drives this ambitious
fiction is admirably inventive…Prague bursts with
imagination and style. -- Carlo Wolff, The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution |
| Prague shimmers with
youthful energy and the seductive power of fleeting possibilities.
-- Anderson Tepper, Time Out New York |
| Dazzling first novel…Prague
reveals a writer of limitless imagination and admirable wit. It is
an auspicious debut. -- Howard Kissel, New York Daily News |
| Unquestionably wonderful Cold
War fiction from an unquestionably wonderful writer. This book
should be nothing less than a splendid example of fine writing for
discerning readers. -- Jeff Guinn, Ft Worth Morning
Star-Telegram |
| His grasp of history, his sense
of place, his suave yet nervy prose style, and his ability to convey
the ambivalent feelings of his characters are most impressive. He
has succeeded in writing a sophisticated yet surprisingly moving
novel that will speak to readers…with a keen sense of irony. -- Merle
Rubin, The Baltimore Sun |
| Fresh, ironic, hilarious… Prague
amazes the reader at almost every turn… Prague captures a
specific time and place but does so with the brush of universal
humanity. -- Michele Ross, The Cleveland Plain Dealer |
| Deeply funny and wise debut…Phillips'
angle of attack is sly and revelatory…all calculation and sublime
payoff in one of 2002's most notable accomplishments. -- Clay
Smith, Austin Chronicle |
| Phillips' splendid first novel…lives
up to the hullabaloo…dazzling…humor delicately poised on the
knife-edge of horror. -- Mark Schechner Buffalo News |
| He draws the reader into the
nature of time and memory and cultural dislocation with tremendous
wit and skill…It’s hard to be funny and elegiac at the same
time, but Phillips manages, and he does it brilliantly. It is the
gift of this wonderful new novel. -- Kit Reed, The Hartford
Courant |
| Phillips maintains a tricky
balance of satiric and ironic distance with a genuine exuberance and
celebration of youth's strange, beautiful bloom… A promising new
writer who's smart, savvy, and admirably ambitious; a writer to
watch. -- Andrew Roe, San Francisco Chronicle |
| Reading "Prague"
is both a giddy and an exhilarating experience…This is one of the
most assured and accomplished first novels of the year -- Susan
Larson, New Orleans Times-Picayune |
| How these characters come to
lose their naive preconceptions and confront the real reasons behind
their own self-imposed exiles drives this unpredictable,
historically rich first novel. -- Maureen Shelly, Time Out New
York (Top 10 Summer Fiction Picks) |
| [Prague] will infuse you
with its retrospective, bittersweet wisdom. -- Mary Ann Gwinn,
Seattle Times |
| …sparkling, Kundera-flavored…
Phillips's five seekers are like mirrors that reflect Budapest at
different angles, and that imperfectly - but wonderfully - point
toward the unattainable city: the glittering, distant Prague. -- Regina
Marler, Amazon.com Editor |
| Superb…rich in history and
beautifully written…this is an auspicious debut. -- Stephen
Bloom, BN.com Editor |
| Brilliantly entertaining…artfully
crafted comedy…intricate…makes one hope for a sequel. -- Judith
Wynn, The Boston Herald |
| A remarkable tour de force…Phillips‚
descriptions of the life and atmosphere of Budapest…are perfect…Brilliantly
written. -- Barbara Dickinson, Roanoke Times and World News |
| Captures the post-revolution
atmosphere...with precision and pungency... I have not read any
fiction or nonfiction that renders the details...so
successfully....The most substantial fictional treatment to date of
that vibrant period. -- John Allison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
| An inside look at the
repercussions of being a tourist in your own life. -- William
Henderson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Phillips… has a fine sense of
time and place. He's ironic, yet sympathetic to his characters. He's
best when he plays, on several levels, with the clash of cultures
between an old world, burdened by history, and a new world, blinded
by the present. -- Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today |
| …a soulful chronicle….Phillips…tiptoes
bravely upon the thematic terrain of Eastern European heavyweights
like Milan Kundera, but with a cool yet swervingly romantic (and
American) take; think The Sun Also Rises updated by Jonathan
Franzen and you're maybe halfway there. -- Jonathan Miles,
Men's Journal |
| An expat novel worth waiting
for…filled with precise detail and knowing insight…a great read…bitingly
funny…The descriptions of the city's key locations reflect the
knowledge of somebody who was there at a special moment. -- Raymond
Johnston, The Prague Post |
| Phillips brings to vivid life
the shabby-genteel, sometimes brutal city itself... Phillips is a
clever writer, but also one with heart. And Prague is the
kind of novel you feel good about having spent time with. -- Charles
Matthews, San Jose Mercury News |
| Prague is a wickedly
funny examination of aimless youths in a country undergoing radical
social and political change. -- The Newark Star-Ledger |
| [Phillips captures] a uniquely
contemporary self-consciousness…Phillips remains throughout a
witty and acute observer of the mid-twenties search for meaning. -- Taylor
Antrim, Esquire |
| Phillips is a master of detail,
a deft creator of characters, a witty and energetic stylist…a
virtuoso writer…clearly a talent we'll hear more from. -- Polly
Paddock, The Charlotte Observer |
| Phillips constructs his debut
novel like an especially brilliant player of the game he's invented…Prague
is told with wonderful attention to detail, wit, intelligence and
genuine compassion for its characters. -- Juliet Waters, The
Montreal Mirror |
| A masterful writer. His
Budapest is exotic, fascinating and beautiful. -- Rebecca
Dalzell, The Daily Pennsylvanian |
| Detailed, intoxicating, and
often bitingly humorous...Sensitive yet unsentimental. -- Jessica
Steinhoff, Shepherd Express |
| [The characters'] trajectories
are moving, funny, and above all, interesting. -- Roger
Gathman, Bookpage |
| Phillips displays startling
talents for metaphor and comic description. -- Troy Patterson,
Entertainment Weekly |
| Linguistically audacious. -- Andrew
Furman, The Miami Herald |
| Mr. Phillips has a flair for
witty dialogue. -- Elizabeth Bukowski, The Wall Street Journal |
| Terrifically scintillating tour
of…Budapest…The energy of Prague is as wild and giddy as
the year it unfolds. -- Gail Caldwell, The Boston Globe |
| …astonishing verbal verve. He
has the gift of the perfect snarky one-liner… -- Lev
Grossman, Time Magazine |
| Phillips really shines…in his
portrayal of Hungarian characters, who make 1990 Budapest dance off
the page. -- Michael Sauer, Newcitychicago.com |
| Prague is so unerring
and intelligent, it's almost unthinkable that it's his debut.-- Schwartz
Books, Milwaukee |
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