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“Intricate…Richly
imagined…A profoundly compassionate meditation on life and death.”
— Elle
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“The overall
impression is that of a delicate, triumphant glance, an acknowledgement of
Woolf that takes her into Cunningham’s own territory, a place of late-century
danger but also of treasurable hours.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Cunningham dazzles
in his inspired The Hours.”
— Vanity Fair
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“The triumph of The
Hours is that it somehow manages to be both artful and sincere, striking
nary a false note…And the triumph of the book is no less the triumph of its
author. Just when it seemed that it was no longer permissible to pay respect to
the literature of the past, Cunningham has done so with an undeniable skill and
depth of feeling.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer
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“The Hours is in fact a lovely triumph. Cunningham honors both Mrs. Dalloway and its creator with
unerring sensitivity, thanks to his modesty of intention and his sovereignly
affecting prose…With his elliptical evocation of Mrs. Dalloway, he has managed to pay great but quiet tribute—reminding
us of the gorgeous, ferocious beauty of what endures.”
— Boston Globe
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“Cunningham writes
beautifully about relationships, living and dying, and love…It’s hard not to
audibly gasp with both pleasure and shock.”
— Detroit Free Press
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“Luxurious…The Hours tells three interwoven
stories; Woolf’s novel echoes through all of them in interesting and uncanny
ways…Cunningham writes with an empathy that approaches Woolf’s.”
— Newsday
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“[A] fine novel…bringing
to light the buried connection his three characters share, capturing in each
the illuminating and transforming moment.”
— Dallas Morning News
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“[The Hours] is both a clever tribute to
the life and work of Virginia Woolf, and a brilliant examination of the quietly
desperate lives of three women.”
— Seattle Times
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“His language is
always on key, unfailing and measured, rich without sating, and haunting in the
way Woolf’s is. It is resonant with the suggestiveness of suppressed desires
and unexpressed needs.”
— Chicago Tribune
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“[A] brilliant tour
de force…His ending is surprising and stunning. This is a skillfully wrought
novel thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Virginia Woolf and crafted in
keeping with her rare excellence.”
— Miami Herald
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“Brilliant…Haunting—winding
skeins of words that, as they unspool, render vividly the three heroines’
complex interior lives.”
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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“[A] remarkable new
novel…A concise, brilliant rendering of three eras.”
— Minneapolis Star-Tribune
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“Cunningham’s care for the work he created is evident in his narration…Hearing a book the way an author hears it is an interesting experience, particularly when it is such an interesting book.”
— AudioFile
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“Brilliant…It’s the
work of a talented writer taking an adventurous plunge below the obvious
surface of things. The Hours has the
heft of flesh and blood, the subtlety of art.”
— Hartford Courant
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“Rich and beautifully
nuanced scenes follow one upon the other…[A] gargantuan accomplishment.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“A smashing literary tour de force and an utterly invigorating reading experience. If this book does not make you jump up from the sofa, looking at life and literature in new ways, check to see if you have a pulse.
— USA Today
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An exquisitely written, kaleidoscopic work that anchors a floating postmodern world on pre-modern caissons of love, grief, and transcendent longing.
— Los Angeles Times
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Cunningham has created something original, a trio of richly interwoven tales...his most mature and masterful work.
— The Washington Post Book World