Description: Praise for The Illumination "By the end, I imagined that if I tore a page from the novel itself, the binding would give off a sharp and penetrating light." -Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered "Spectacular . . . achingly beautiful . . . Underscoring (his characters') conflicts is the haunting, harrowing, and deeply hypnotic pull of Brockmeier's lush language, where even the direst pain becomes poetic." - Boston Globe "Stunningly original . . . this gorgeously written book will still stay with them long after the last page is turned." - Portland Oregonian "Brockmeier's book positively sparkles . . . We've never read anything like it." - Daily Candy San Francisco "The depth of this writer's scrutiny makes his fiction glow." -Cleveland Plain Dealer "The writing consistently astonishes . . . [a] sunlit novel." - Time Out Chicago "Brockmeier's literary ability lives up to the hauntingly appropriate epigraphs from great writers he uses to introduce each new section-from Hugh Blumenfeld ("The light is worth the pain"), to Whittaker Chambers ("There is nothing more important than this wound"), to J.G. Ballard ("The world was beginning to flower into wounds"), to Simone Weil ("Pain is the color of certain events"), to Joy Williams ("To eradicate the sickness would be to eradicate the self") or to Franz Kafka ("It is enough that the arrows fit exactly in the wounds they have made")." -Iowa Press-Citizen "Fresh and ingenious . . . Brockmeier has one of those imaginations that churns out picture-perfect imagery." - ELLE "In Brockmeier's spectacular latest . . . pain manifests itself as visible light after a mysterious event called "the Illumination," revealing humanity to be mortally wounded, and yet Brockmeier finds in these overlapping, storylike narratives, beauty amid the suffering . . . Brockmeier's careful reading of his characters' hearts and minds gives readers an inspiring take on suffering and the often fleeting nature of connection." - Publishers Weekly , starred review "This is a radiant, bewitching, and profoundly inquisitive novel of sorrow, perseverance, and wonderment." - Booklist , starred review Praise for The View from the Seventh Layer "Some writers show us the world we live in. Brockmeier shows us, instead, the one we might live in if only we had a little more imagination." - Los Angeles Times "Powerfully affecting . . . Carefully observed . . . A field of sparks set ablaze by Brockmeier's artistic hand." - The Miami Herald "[Filled] with lyrical grace, indelible characters, and deep insight . . . Startlingly original." - Tucson Citizen "Devilishly addictive . . . Brockmeier slakes our thirst once again with rich language, measured telling, [and] a hint of wonder." - The Seattle Times Praise for The Brief History of the Dead "Brilliant . . . Brockmeier's characters are wonderful and his images are dazzling." - Detroit Free Press "Thrilling . . . Inventive . . . Deftly told." - The Washington Post Book World "Extraordinary . . . Breathtaking . . . A gracefully written story that blends fantasy, philosophical speculation, adventure, and crystalline moments of compassion." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Striking . . . Brave . . . Deliciously disquieting . . . Will stay alive in the memories of readers for years to come." - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution From the Hardcover edition.

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