Searches and Seizures
For Elkin, the sentence is more than instrumental to the end, and its loving elaboration of perceptions, surprising and just, is the key to his work, putting him among not only the best of novelists, but only the best of writers. --Howard NemerovThe searches of Elkin's latest book are philosophical, but the seizures are almost epileptic. In three novellas, through three very different alienated characters, Elkin traces a search for an Other, whether it be a criminal prey, a beloved, or the dead. In each case the search is ended through a seizure, a paroxysm of hate, lust or despair. Elkin's strength as a writer lies in his arch, tricky, pyrotechnical style, and his ability to fuse horror and humor in each "seizure." He has given us three good novellas in this book, worthy of inclusion in any college or university fiction collection. --ChoiceWrenchingly funny and oddly moving. This collection of three new novellas should provide the uninitiated with an ideal introduction to Elkin's art even as it confirms addicts like me in our belief that no American novelist tells us more about where we are and what we are doing to ourselves. This is a remarkably various talent, and the stories in Search & Seizures nicely illustrate its range. --Thomas R. Edwards, New York Times Book Review