“Just one of the miracles performed by this brilliant writer is an immediate emotional connection between the most bizarre of her characters and the reader.”
—The Globe and Mail
“In bumbling for superlatives to describe Mister Sandman, you’ll find the everyday ones lack the necessary jam. Astonishing, wonderful, marvellous—fine words but not the mots justes. A novel like this, one that pulses with originality, humour, humanity and intelligence, demands a less hackneyed superlative. Something like ‘mirabundous.’”
—The Georgia Straight
“This is a beautifully written, moving book. The portrayal of Joan, in particular, moved me greatly, and I will never forget her.”
—Telegraph-Journal (Saint John)
“This book holds together quite brilliantly and delivers an engaging, touching story. Playful, witty and wise, Mister Sandman is as good as the much-praised We So Seldom Look on Love.”
—Quill & Quire
“Barbara Gowdy is heading for literary superstardom.”
—Calgary Herald
“A daring and ambitious project, fortified by Gowdy’s complete command of her narrative voice, with its wit, its brilliance of observation, its aptness of metaphor.”
—Toronto Star
“An accomplished, intriguing page-turner, full of really beautiful writing.” —CBC Radio (Montreal)
“Mister Sandman firmly places Gowdy in the foreground of Canada’s changing literary landscape.” —The Hamilton Spectator
“An achingly affecting and wildly funny novel that dances dangerously close to the edge. Highly recommended.”
—NOW
“With her new novel, Mister Sandman, Toronto writer Barbara Gowdy leaves little doubt that the international praise she earned for fiction of first-rate quality is deserved.”
—London Free Press
“A gifted storyteller with a unique perspective.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“Barbara Gowdy tells confounding and wonderful love stories She writes with enchanting humour…. Gowdy’s ability to write about sexuality in a completely unabashed way—about secrets, what lies beneath the surface, the ostensible abnormal—is mind-boggling.”
—Der Spiegel
“[Gowdy] revels in the eccentricities of her characters with an empathy that makes Mister Sandman an exceptional novel of the family—without ever being a satire of it.”
—Kommune
“Magical and gripping, like a modern fairy-tale for adults…. A disquieting, infatuating book.”
—Nürnberger Nachrichten
“[Gowdy] presents uneasy absurdities and comical dialogue with enormous ease…. Her language is unpretentious, relentless, but full of sympathy for her characters…. We can’t get enough of Barbara Gowdy’s intelligent, familiar and yet bizarre characters.”
—Hamburger Abendblatt
“[Gowdy is] a master of the oblique view, a literary daredevil…. Mister Sandman delivers 284 pages of brilliant metaphorical fireworks, the prose of a born storyteller.”
—Die Woche
“Barbara Gowdy’s books are of the most unusual, ingenious and fascinating kind.”
—Frankenpost
“Reminiscent of John Irving…. [Readers] will fall in love with Barbara Gowdy’s Canary family…. Sensational.”
—Facts