Endorsements/Reviews for River Talk by CB Anderson (C&R Press):

KIRKUS Indie Summer Reading Pick (One of Ten)

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Clear, unhurried, confident prose with no intentions of showing off… [Anderson] introduces a range of people—from Korean War veterans to Somali refugees—each carefully crafted, each bearing a measure of dignity.”

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW: “These are ‘ordinary’ people involved in extraordinary situations… It’s CB Anderson’s talent in bringing together these disparate lives with minimal direction and seemingly effortless observation that makes this literary collection shine.”

KIRKUS REVIEW (Starred): “An uncommonly clearsighted collection of short fiction … [Anderson’s] sensitive and startlingly perceptive debut proves she’s on her way to being a master. With the grace of an adept eavesdropper, these 17 short stories slip quietly into the heartbreaks, disappointments and hopes of people living in Maine’s western valleys … Anderson’s gifts of attention and emotional precision are on shining display… A triumphant, probing debut that promises both literary and mass appeal.”

Antonya Nelson, author of Bound and nine other books: “In the tradition of Winesburg, Ohio, CB Anderson follows the discrete and diverse lives of characters in a small town, revealing both the heart and heartache that surrounds us all. This is a powerful and wonderfully insightful book; I can’t imagine a reader who wouldn’t come away moved and illuminated.”

Peter Orner, author of Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge and five other books: “A stellar, fully realized collection of stories. River Talk is grounded, wonderfully, in the river valleys of Western Maine but Anderson knows her diverse collection of characters just as intimately – their desires, their secrets – and you come away not only understanding a place but the soul of its people.”

Monica Wood, author of When We Were the Kennedys and six other books: “I adored these stories, every one of which engaged my mind and my heart. Anderson writes with wisdom, generosity, and beauty about people we don’t see often enough in contemporary literature. She gives us minimum-wage strivers, doing their best and sometimes their worst, and asks us to see them, hear them, walk with them for a while. Anderson is a marvelous writer, but her best gift is simple and rare: empathy.”

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