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“Packer knows just
how to make a story build: the novel reveals a sure sense of pace and pitch, a
brilliant ear for character…A searching emotional generosity.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Intricately
detailed, deeply felt, compelling, and utterly surprising…Wonderfully satisfying.”
— Boston Globe
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“Gracefully written
and provocative…An elegant book.”
— Washington Post Book World
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“A graceful writer…A
quietly provocative novel…Packer has a wonderfully optimistic yet realistic
view of humanity.”
— Chicago Tribube
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“[Packer] plays the
slower rhythms of Madison against the Broadway boogie-woogie of Manhattan to
great effect.”
— Economist
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“A winning debut
novel.”
— Vogue
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“Remarkably assured,
utterly winning…Packer’s characters scramble up…as terrifically physical
beings, so well does she describe them.”
— Miami Herald
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“Rich with characters
and restrained in its language, Packer’s novel is, first and foremost, a great
story.”
— Minneapolis Star-Tribune
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“Packer knows just
where she wants to take us…[and] the journey is worth taking.”
— Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
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“Multilayered…Absolutely
credible and quite surprising.”
— Seattle Times
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“Ambitious…Both a
colorful chronicle of life in Wisconsin and New York City…and a serious, moving
meditation on the nature of love and of loyalty.”
— Glamour
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“Packer’s novel
explores how life itself can confront ordinary human beings with daunting moral
dilemmas.”
— USA Today
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“Impressive…Packer
skillfully distills broad themes into small, personal moments…A thoughtful and
satisfying examination of duty and personal integrity.”
— Time Out New York
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“[The
Dive from Clausen’s Pier] has an affinity with the work of Rosellen
Brown…and Anne Tyler…Packer writes with a rare density of detail and ideas, and
it’s just possible that the reader will be wiser at the end of the book than
she was at the beginning.”
— Newsday
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“One of those small
miracles that reinforce our faith in fiction. It does what the best novels so
often do, making the largest things visible by its perfect rendering of life on
the smaller scale. It is witty, tragic, and touching, and beguiling.”
— Scott Turow