The New York Times Book Review - Ayana Mathis
…Cheng's characters are finely spun, soulful creatures, and his writing is muscular, evocative and haunting…In passages about the hostile and spooky natural world, or the equally mysterious depths of his characters, Cheng's talent astonishes, and the blues music that so clearly inspired him echoes through the prose.
The Washington Post - Carolyn See
…[a] powerful debut…
From the Publisher
A rich, rollicking debut. . . a phantasmagorical excursion into a world. . . marked by bad moons, evil winds, backwater magic, and hoodoo curses.” — Boston Globe
“Scintillating. . . . Unforgettable.” — Wall Street Journal
“With its evocative settings and rich McCarthyesque language, this Southern gothic packs a punch like a mean drunk.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Vividly imagined, frequently poetic. . . . It’s hard to resist the sweep of Southern history . . . the way [Cheng] makes the devil as palpably real as the natural world that he pervades. . . . A strong voice and a compelling achievement.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A novel in the great Southern tradition; think Cormac McCarthy or a 21st-century Faulkner. . . . This book is a winner for lovers of plot; tough, lyrical writing; history; and the trials of the deep South.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“[A] brooding, spine-chilling southern odyssey. . . . Bold and piercing. . . . [Cheng’s] darkly rhapsodic language is so imaginative and highly charged that each word seems newly forged.” — Booklist (starred review)
“[A] dark, lyrical debut novel… Cheng imbues the landscape with Faulkner-esque poetry. …the prose is arresting.” — The New Yorker (Briefly Noted review)
“Lush and so very often poetic. . . . Southern Cross the Dog has large and small echoes of masterful works, but we should not make any mistake—Cheng has carved out his own creative and accomplished path.” — Edward P. Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Known World and All Aunt Hagar's Children
“An incredibly daring and powerful debut. Not only does Bill Cheng set the language on fire in Southern Cross the Dog, but he creates a whole new territory of story-telling. . . . Cheng, almost literally, writes out of his skin.” — Colum McCann, National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin
“Fantastic and beautifully written, Southern Cross the Dog is an epic and bluesy throwdown in the Southern tradition.” — Nathan Englander, author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank
“A vibrant world grows from the pages of Southern Cross the Dog and its dynamic mix of language and place. Bill Cheng conjures history with precision and style in his exceptional debut.” — Ravi Howard, author of Like Trees, Walking
Colum McCann
An incredibly daring and powerful debut. Not only does Bill Cheng set the language on fire in Southern Cross the Dog, but he creates a whole new territory of story-telling. . . . Cheng, almost literally, writes out of his skin.
Wall Street Journal
Scintillating. . . . Unforgettable.
The New Yorker (Briefly Noted review)
[A] dark, lyrical debut novel… Cheng imbues the landscape with Faulkner-esque poetry. …the prose is arresting.
Booklist (starred review)
[A] brooding, spine-chilling southern odyssey. . . . Bold and piercing. . . . [Cheng’s] darkly rhapsodic language is so imaginative and highly charged that each word seems newly forged.
Ravi Howard
A vibrant world grows from the pages of Southern Cross the Dog and its dynamic mix of language and place. Bill Cheng conjures history with precision and style in his exceptional debut.
Nathan Englander
Fantastic and beautifully written, Southern Cross the Dog is an epic and bluesy throwdown in the Southern tradition.
Edward P. Jones
Lush and so very often poetic. . . . Southern Cross the Dog has large and small echoes of masterful works, but we should not make any mistake—Cheng has carved out his own creative and accomplished path.
Boston Globe
A rich, rollicking debut. . . a phantasmagorical excursion into a world. . . marked by bad moons, evil winds, backwater magic, and hoodoo curses.
Wall Street Journal
Scintillating. . . . Unforgettable.