My first collection of short stories came out this fall with Tortoise Books. It's been a true joy getting to hear from some folks who've had a chance to pick up the book. Here are some of the critical responses:
"There is an honesty and a humanity in each of these characters, even the most depraved, and when their horrible secrets are revealed or even just hinted at, you wince but find you’ve been pulled in and can’t help caring about them. We all have friends who’ve made terrible mistakes, and have sometimes been those people, and in this collection we are in good, if shadowed, company."
Book Review: Newcity
Book Review: Newcity
"Cromley’s fiction recalls Carver and writers like Tobias Wolff and Stuart Dybek; his characters navigate a complicated and often harsh world, but do so with resilience and a willingness to put their hearts at risk."
Author Interview: Cease, Cows
Author Interview: Cease, Cows
"We have long sought to pick apart the human condition and its unsettling, often unpleasant realities. And yet the indirect way Cromley addresses these problems forces the reader to realize that they’re not easily defined. What electrifies these stories is that the friction waiting to ignite every situation is often simmering just underneath the surface."
Book Review: Tethered by Letters
Book Review: Tethered by Letters
"These stories are domestic, and painful, in a modern but classically crafted kind of way. Cromley uses clean prose and simple but stunning metaphors to make seemingly banal moments resonate with intensity—he directs the reader’s attention to the stillness, to those tableaux of life that expand each individual’s consciousness... In the end, these stories succeed primarily because they are both accessible and compelling, both down-to-earth and intellectually engaging. Cromley combines honest but moving prose, complex but clear metaphors, and concise but vivid depictions into one cohesive portrait of modern domesticity." 5/5 Stars
Book Review: Chicago Literati
Book Review: Chicago Literati
"Cromley masterfully speaks to the reader as he shares the lives, the pains, and the triumphs of his characters. The messages are personal and powerful. Walls are built, walls are broken, and somehow, 'beneath the ruins,' life goes on... As I reached the end of Cromley’s collection, I was left both satisfied and wanting more, simultaneously. We are all builders in one way or another. Whether literally or figuratively, our lives are essentially works in progress, buildings in the making. Some of what we build will be, naturally, stronger than others. What We Build upon the Ruins offers a comforting and inspiring glimpse into the builders among us. Building, and sometimes rebuilding, lives, relationships, and futures, the characters in Cromley’s work are relatable and genuine. For anyone with a hunger for storytelling, a lens into the lives of others, and pointed exchanges that resonate with our own pasts, this collection delivers — eleven times over."
Book Review: The Coil, Alternating Current Press
Book Review: The Coil, Alternating Current Press
"When we think of ruins, we think of things past. We imagine crumbling architecture or the after-village of an earthquake’s re-modelling. We think static, something we can only clean up and build upon. However, in Cromley’s ‘What We Build Upon Ruins’, the ruins are still in a state of mid-crumble. They are human shaped, moving from place to place searching for ways to rebuild themselves and prevent their ultimate ruin."
Book Review: Selcouth Station
Book Review: Selcouth Station
"I could probably talk at length about every story in this collection. Every story here is entertaining yet melancholic, avoids sentimentality, and the characters are painfully, tragically real. Cromley's prose is simple and unpretentious, yet never boring. I think I can safely say that this now one of my favorite short story collections. Very highly recommended." Score: 9.5/10
Book Review: Cultured Vultures
Book Review: Cultured Vultures
"A gorgeous literary collection. Cromley's stories, centering on themes of grief and loss, but also rebirth, family and coming of age, are captivating to the point that I wanted each of them to be developed into a novel all on their own. Cromley has a knack for using small moments to bring characters brightly to life and to play on a reader's emotions in subtle and unpredictable ways. A highly recommended short story collection."
Steph Post -- author of Lightwood and Walk in the Fire
Steph Post -- author of Lightwood and Walk in the Fire
"To touch the heart without even a hint of sentimentality is a tough trick for any fiction writer, and most of us never quite get it right. Giano Cromley not only pulls off this trick, he establishes touching the heart as his own particular genius that distinguishes him from other writers of talent and serious purpose. He makes you feel the depths of your own humanity. These stories are not only great reads, they are an enduring contribution to our literature."
Ernest Hebert -- author of The Dogs of March, The Old American and ten other novels
"Life isn't fair. This thought kept occurring to me with every story I consumed in Giano Cromley's lively new collection What We Build Upon the Ruins. In these stories, nothing is fair, not life, not death, not family, not nothing. All these characters can do is try to be okay, and what Cromley illustrates for us with his dexterous prose, is that if they keep fighting, and keep bleeding, and keep trying to feel something, anything, maybe they can be."
Ben Tanzer -- author of Be Cool and SEX AND DEATH
"Giano Cromley’s powerful stories feature blue collar characters who make mistakes, race blindly toward disaster, and frequently plunge over the rim into darkness. These are the folks Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams capture in their songs. Survival in the aftermath is the key. "
Richard Peabody -- editor, Gargoyle Magazine