Mordantly funny, yet possessed of great tenderness and empathy for those festering in dissolving relationships and marriages, the work of Nashville author Adam Ross can leave you eyeing your bedmate both guiltily and gratefully. His first two books have drawn such widespread national acclaim that Margaret Renkl at Chapter16.org devoted an entire article to a roundup of his adoring notices. “Perhaps it’s inevitable that Ross, the author of
Mr. Peanut and
Ladies and Gentlemen, should inspire the loftiest comparisons,” Renkl wrote. “[How] often does a debut novelist rack up outrageous accolades both in translation and across the entire English-speaking world, including on the front page of
The New York Times Book Review, and then turn in an equally compelling performance with a short-story collection barely a year later?” If you want to know why, check out Ross’ reading at Vanderbilt, free and open to the public.
— Jim Ridley