Hammer and Company

Praise for Edith Pearlman's Honeydew
The New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice &
“New Books for the New Year” Selection
The Millions Most Anticipated 2015 Book Preview
Kirkus Reviews “Must Read” in 2015
Library Journal Fiction Pick for 2015
Publisher’s Weekly Book of the Week
Starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist

“Exquisite work… Such narrative judgment and authority are a pleasure to be in the presence of… This newest book contains 20 stories in fewer than 300 pages, and even the shortest among them convey a depth and a texture well out of proportion to what their word counts might suggest them capable of.”
~ Chicago Tribune, 1/8/15

“Pearlman’s stories — slightly old-fashioned in their use of conceit; refreshingly loose in their capacity for digression or tangent; occasionally Whartonian in the bemused and acidic clarity of their narrative eye — are sui generis… [these stories] share a particular perspective that, like a perfume, floats throughout… to make of life’s everyday leavings a life-saving nectar — is, perhaps, Pearlman’s most consistent endeavour. She is wise, yes, but also unfailingly generous, even joyous… it certainly makes her fiction a fortifying pleasure to read.” sample
~ Claire Messud, Financial Times, 1/9/5

“Pearlman repeatedly thrills us by opening up secret worlds, and it’s because of the exquisite care with which these worlds are formed that we come to care deeply about her people (“characters” just doesn’t cut it)… Make no mistake, Edith Pearlman’s world is grounded in reality, but as with John Cheever, John Updike, A.S. Byatt, and V.S. Pritchett, among others, her stories hold a reverence for the magical, the anomalous, and the chance encounters all around us... something about this book feels so urgent, so wise, and it had me turning pages until the wee hours.”
~ The Millions, 1/8/15

“This writer of elegant short stories—frequently likened to Alice Munro and Grace Paley—deserves all the recognition she can get.”
~ Newsday, 1/8/15

“Pearlman is our greatest living American short story writer, and Honeydew is her best collection yet .”
~ Boston Globe, 1/4/15

Honeydew seems likely to solidify [Pearlman’s] place in the literary firmament.”
~ The New York Times, 1/3/15

Honeydew should cement [Pearlman’s] reputation as one of the most essential short story visionaries of our time.”
~ The New York Times, 1/4/15

“[Honeydew] cements [Pearlman’s] reputation as an American short fiction avatar. The work is smart and deeply rendered, full of striking observations and some of the best sentences you'll ever want to read.”
~ The Los Angeles Times, 1/4/15

“If you have never read Edith Pearlman, you’re in for a lovely surprise, and if you have, you’re in for another treat… Honeydew is ripe with often bittersweet, unconventional love stories that somehow manage to encompass loss and pain yet reaffirm the value of living… Like Alice Munro, Pearlman deftly encapsulates whole lifetimes in compact stories by focusing on pivotal moments that reverberate over decades…flexibility and realistic expectations increase your chances for contentment. So, too, does reading Pearlman’s wise, scrupulously cultivated stories.”
~ The Washington Post, 1/6/15

“There remain a few dedicated practitioners of the short story, and Edith Pearlman is one to be cherished… the 20 stories [in Honeydew] are vinegary, rueful, droll, humane and endlessly inquisitive. Though intricately constructed, they are slight in drama and emphasis, set down like a light footprint that nevertheless fixes itself in one’s memory as though pressed in wet cement.”
~ The Wall Street Journal, 1/4/15

“A generous collection of depth and sensitivity featuring a range of unusual characters.”
~ O, the Oprah Magazine, 1/15

“These elegant compassionate stories bring ‘regular’ people to complex life. Pearlman's flawed characters demand your attention and win your heart.”
~ People Magazine, The Best New Books, 1/12/15

“Even though [Pearlman’s] characters have feet of clay like the rest of us, they often seem to float above the ordinary world like the figures in a Chagall painting… What a pleasure to encounter a writer who can speak volumes in a few short sentences.”
~ The Seattle Times, 1/4/15

“At her best, Pearlman invigorates our curiosity about others, encouraging us to flip page after page just to see what a character ate for lunch… Pearlman’s stories encourage us to sink deeply into them, and we become contented ghosts snooping on these unadorned, authentic lives.”
~ Time Out New York, 1/7/15

“Pearlman’s prose shimmers, and the stories are filled with beguiling details of color, taste and smell. Pearlman knows—and seems to care about—each of her characters, even the most irritating, and no matter their age, gender or race, they are drawn incisively and with empathy… Honeydew is a solid group of stories by a very great writer indeed.”
~ Bookpage, 1/15

“All of the powerful emotions are depicted in a rich, controlled prose, one of the earmarks of a Pearlman story … In the tradition of Joyce, Chekhov, Updike and Munro, Pearlman's surprising, memorable stories are joys to behold.”
~ Shelf Awareness

“Pearlman’s prose shimmers, and the stories are filled with beguiling details of color, taste and smell… Honeydew is a solid group of stories by a very great writer indeed.”
~ Bookpage, 1/4/15

“There are plenty of virtues to recommend Pearlman, but Honeydew particularly showcases a skill that has often eluded the Updike/Munro/etc axis—she writes exquisitely about children, perhaps better than any writer this side of Salinger.”
~ Barnes & Noble Review, 1/4/15