More About Charles D'Ambrosio

A few days ago, I passed along JT Leroy's recommendation of a Charles D'Ambrosio short story, and made note of a John Marshall review of D'Ambrosio's latest collection of essays. Well, over the weekend, I was informed that that review, for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, raised the critical eyebrow of Stranger book critic Christopher Frizzelle, who called Marshall's effort "pretty embarrassing" and "really obnoxious." Frizzelle, on the other hand, finds Orphans

"a smart, small, daring book, surprisingly alive, open to the world, inventive, occasionally furious, blistering and human, persuasive without ever once being pedantic, controlled, disarmingly funny, better than you can imagine."

I'm about to receive a copy of Orphans, and when I do, I'll let you know what side of that fence I fall on...but given my enthusiasm for the stories, you can probably guess how I'm leaning. (And while I'm waiting, I'll be digging into another book published by the same indie imprint, Clear Cut Press, a collection of short stories by Robert Glück called Denny Smith.)