a sister's thoughtful struggle for a way to love her sibling without losing herself."
Entertainment Weekly
"Witt's riveting debut is a disturbing, accomplished novel…. Wildly imaginative and
intelligent…an often profound, unsettling story of children struggling to
understand love, truth, and sacrifice."
Booklist
"[Broken As Things Are] gives a droll twist to the tropes of dysfunction….
Arch, slyly humorous…this is an unusual, uncompromising debut."
Publisher's Weekly
"A much-touted debut about a young girl's close relationship
with her autistic and ultimately violently jealous brother."
Library Journal
Advanced Praise for Broken As Things Are
"Martha Witt's Broken As Things Are is an impressive debut indeed:
a strong and beguiling new voice in the tough-Southern-Gothic
vein of Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor."
John Barth, author of The Sot-Weed Factor
"Broken As Things Are is an intriguing heartfelt novel, rendered in a voice
that is both precise and emotionally provocative; readers should enjoy its
insights into family life and the revealed nature of those relationships."
Oscar Hijuelos, author of A Simple Habana Melody
"A sensitive southern tale of weirdly imaginative children and hapless
adults. Ms. Witt has staked out a territory somewhere between
Harper Lee and Flannery O'Connor."
E.L. Doctorow, author of Ragtime
"Broken As Things Are is an enviable, soul-affirming novel. I'll never forget the
characters, or the dilemma, haunting Martha Witt's particular American south."
Haven Kimmel, author of A Girl Named Zippy and Something Rising
"Broken As Things Are is that book you have been looking for: an unjaded tale
of childhood told fondly and masterfully. Nothing less than the firefly of
girlhood captured in the jar of Witt's marvelous prose."
Andrew Sean Greer, author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli
"A comedy of sorrows-written with a poet's precision, a compelling story of
young love that effortlessly crosses the border between reality and
mystery, gathering into itself insights and revelations available
only to a highly singular and deeply human imagination."
Joseph Caldwell, author of Bread for the Baker's Child
Book | Author | Events | Reviews | Excerpt | Buy | Contact