Alexander Maksik is the author of the novels You Deserve Nothing and A Marker to Measure Drift, which was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2013, as well as finalist for both the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and Le Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger. His writing has appeared in The Pushcart Prize Anthology, Harper's, Tin House, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic. He is a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler.
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Alexander Maksik
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In these Trumpian times, a powerful and depressing book that has haunted me this year is Alexander Maksik’s Shelter in Place (Europa Editions), a strange, dark and beautiful novel about violence, mental illness and love (...)— The Guardian, Nov 29 2016![]()
Every new novel by Maksik is so different from his previous efforts that one's admiration grows for an author with such diverse skills and a determination not to repeat himself. Following novels which explored the life of the heart through teacher/student forbidden relationships...— Lovereading, Nov 2 2016![]()
“In the summer of 1991 my mother beat a man to death with a twenty-two ounce Erstwing framing hammer and I fell in love with Tess Wolff,” writes Maksik in the opening lines of his third novel. The story unfolds in scenes and memories and pleas as his narrator, a bipolar man...— Lit Hub, Oct 25 2016![]()
About Shelter in Place: Set in the Pacific Northwest in the jittery, jacked-up early 1990s, Shelter in Place, by one of America’s most thrillingly defiant contemporary authors, is a stylish literary novel about the hereditary nature of mental illness, the fleeting intensity...— Blog City Lights, Oct 21 2016![]()
"To begin with, I’m not much interested in writing about sex as a form of conquest because I’m not much interested in people who approach sex that way. Or maybe I’m not interested in writing about men who do."— Tin House, Oct 14 2016![]()
Brutal in its honest prose and harsh reality, Alexander Maksik’s Shelter in Place sticks to your ribs like steak and mashed potatoes. Mental illness, intertwined with growing up and growing old, proves more haunting than any ghost story.— Campus Circle, Oct 11 2016![]()
The book will take you to your own deep dark recesses and bring you back – wanting to know more about the person you are.— The Hungry Reader, Oct 6 2016![]()
Alexander Maksik doesn’t waste any time getting to the meat of his new novel Shelter in Place. The first chapter is a small paragraph introducing Joe March with three facts: his mother beat a man to death with a hammer, he fell in love with a woman named Tess and he battles...— The Gilmore Guide to Books, Sep 28 2016![]()
The narrator of Alexander Maksik's third novel, Shelter in Place (after A Marker to Measure Drift), Joe March, is a brooding, bar-hopping, lackluster student at Santa Monica Community College. His self-disciplined, blue-collar father calls him home to Seattle after his mother...— Shelf Awareness, Sep 20 2016![]()
Alexander Maksik’s excellent third novel, Shelter in Place, opens with a sentence so viciously specific that I spent the whole first page in a daze: “In the summer of 1991 my mother beat a man to death with a twenty-two ounce Estwing framing hammer and I fell in love with...— Electric Literature, Sep 14 2016![]()
Have you ever felt like a giant black bird is clawing at your heart, or like your body is completely immobilized by black tar flowing through your veins? It may be hard to imagine what that really feels like, but for the protagonist of Alexander Maksik’s latest novel, Shelter...— Booktrib, Sep 13 2016![]()
The first line of Alexander Maksik‘s third novel, “Shelter in Place,” perfectly sets the stage for this brutal, elegant book full of yearning and nostalgia. “In the summer of 1991 my mother beat a man to death with a twenty-two ounce Erstwing framing hammer and...— The Huffington Post, Sep 13 2016![]()
Set in the Pacific Northwest in the jittery, jacked-up early 1990s, Shelter in Place, by one of America’s most thrillingly defiant contemporary authors, is a stylish literary novel about the hereditary nature of mental illness, the fleeting intensity of youth, the obligations...— Bookhub, Sep 8 2016![]()
Set in the Pacific Northwest in the jittery, jacked-up early 1990s, Shelter in Place, by one of America’s most thrillingly defiant contemporary authors, is a stylish literary novel about the hereditary nature of mental illness, the fleeting intensity of youth, the obligations...— Bookbub, Sep 8 2016![]()
You Deserve Nothing author Maksik takes on family, mental illness, violence against women and murder in this novel set in the Pacific Northwest. “Scorching,” says Publishers Weekly.— Flavorwire, Sep 6 2016![]()
Maksik is one of the most exacting and daring writers we have. His new novel, Shelter in Place, is about mental illness, family ties and violence. Maksik has a reputation as a writer of elegant sentences, but the new work is more rugged and chiseled than You Deserve Nothing or...— Literary Hub, Sep 2 2016![]()
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Chuck Robinson, owner of Village Books in Bellingham, Wash., calls this “an incredibly courageous novel that delves deeply into issues of love, gender, violence, and mental illness. Like A Marker to Measure Drift, Masik’s earlier book, the writing is not only beautiful but...— Publisher's Weekly, Sep 1 2016![]()
Alexander Maksik's third novel is a striking narrative told by a man haunted by love, family and the insistent presence of a bipolar disorder.— Shelf Awareness, Aug 10 2016![]()
Europa Editions UK is to publish a novel from American writer Alexander Maksik entitled Shelter in Place. Michael Reynolds, editor-in-chief of Europa Editions US, acquired world English rights from Eric Simonoff at William Morris Endeavour. The acquisition was made initially...— The Bookseller, Aug 5 2016
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