“Richard Lange dives into his characters’ lives in order to reveal ever deeper, ever darker wants....You know you’re in the hands of an expert....Most striking in these stories is Lange’s efficient use of language. The author creates poetry from the simplest of words and moments.... This is the kind of book you’ll want to savor.”
—Lisa L. Kirchner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Richard Lange’s stories are a revelation. He writes of the disaffections and bewilderments of ordinary lives with as keen an anger and searing lyricism as anybody out there today. He is Raymond Carver reborn in a hard cityscape. Read him and be amazed.”
—T. C. Boyle, author of The Harder They Come
“Beautifully crafted....Samuel Beckett is Lange’s major writing influence, but judging from the casual eloquence of his stories, Lange has already earned a place close to Beckett’s elevated company.”
—Jack Batten, Toronto Star
“Wonderful.… Swift, gut-wrenching, and sometimes cleverly disarming fiction by a master.”
—Joe R. Lansdale, author of Paradise Sky
“Lange has a terrific knack for plotting and a penchant for populating his tales with characters who live within or at the edge of a violent, lawless world....Denis Johnson’s influence is apparent in the terse lyricism of Lange’s prose....The stories are imbued with a sense of searing honesty about our common potential for failure and an empathy for human weakness that make the characters hard not to love, and their author impossible not to admire.”
—Ed Tarkington, Memphis Commercial Appeal
“Highly recommended....Lange knows how to inhabit the skin of his protagonists and breathe life and vitality into them with his minimalist prose....These citizens of L.A. are Lange’s bread and butter, and he drafts them with so much care and precision that they become just as real as your next-door neighbor....Sweet Nothing is dark and gritty, but there’s a spark of life and light and a deadpan sense of humor that stops the stories from going full dark.”
—Keith Rawson, LitReactor
“With his lyrical yet matter-of-fact prose, Lange drills straight to the center of society’s fringe. We might not find his characters’ lives desirable, but we do relate to their basic humanity, occasionally in spite of ourselves.”
—Angela Lutz, Kansas City Star
“The syncopated rhythm of Lange’s dialogue and the laconic grace of his descriptions can still capture a life in a single episode.”
—Anna Mundow, Barnes and Noble Review
“For me the best stories are rabbit holes. You read the first lines, maybe a page, and you’re down there. Somewhere else. Another life. Richard Lange is one cwazy wabbit.”
—James Sallis, author of Drive
“Skillfully constructed....Lange portrays the lives of people struggling to survive, with the focus on families, both blood-related and chance-made....These stories will have broad appeal because of Lange’s accessible style and fine characterization.”
—Ellen Loughran, Booklist
“For all the darkness that runs through the stories, Lange maintains a disarmingly light touch....These tales are not far removed from the classic stories of O. Henry and Guy de Maupassant.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Utterly believable postcards from the edge; for those who like their realism not so magical but right there at street level.”
—Robert E. Brown, Library Journal
“Richard Lange piercingly depicts the grittier side of Los Angeles in his new short story collection.”
—David Gutowski, Largehearted Boy