I had a significant increase of published works in 2010, and although they were mostly indie or small press publications, some of my stories were actually reviewed. What follows is a list, complete with links and “snippet” quotes, from these reviews.
UPROOTED (Limited Chapbook release, including “Uprooted,” “Retired,” and “Just Once More, Little Sister.”)
KV Taylor’s Review “I think it’s biggest draw is in the author’s ability to render atmosphere — right from the beginning this is unsettling…” “‘Just Once More, Little Sister’ is genuinely scary, and man, what a perfect story for fall. The latter is on my very short “best of 2011″ list — the execution was spot-on sharp. Like a knife in your… pumpkin. Yeah.”
Troy Blackford’s Review “Three short stories – from three different phases of Mr. Rapino’s career – ‘Uprooted’ is a look at love, pain, loss, and connections. Connections between people, between worlds, between things – even connections between connections are glimpsed here.”
Mary Rajotte’s Review “This little chapbook is a gem, offering 3 different stories that provide a delightfully dark sampling of Tony’s writing.”
“Fixing a Hole” (From A cappella Zoo, Pg. 74)
The following reviews I had no idea existed until I did a quick search. The first is really more of a “mention.”
Doomsday’s Posterous “…and ‘Fixing a Hole’ (just plain weirdness) by Anthony J. Rapino make you think Amazing Stories rather than New Yorker. (At least in terms of subject matter; the prose itself is the work of serious writers well-practiced in their craft.)”
That one made me smile. “Just Plain Weirdness” should be my website’s tag line. This next one is actually more of a negative review, but I still like it. I know…”just plain weirdness.” I think I like it because the things the reviewer didn’t like were actually things I was shooting for. So for me, in a strange way, it was positive because I achieved my goals.
Sarah Crow via The Review Review “And in Anthony J. Rapino’s ‘Fixing a Hole,’ slacker narrator Joe starts seeing odd holes in the walls, the floor, the street, and finally other people. It’s a great premise, but it veers into horror-gore, becoming almost silly, without giving Joe a real chance to change, or take meaningful action. ”
That’s what I have for the time being. If you have reviewed one of my stories, or know of a review that I missed, please let me know and I’ll add it in.
Happy New Year! Those reviews are pretty impressive. In three years, I expect those reviewers to be bragging how they reviewed some of your first published work 🙂
Happy new Year, Angela! Well, we can only hope. 😉
Ain’t it cool to find unexpected reviews of your work? A little weird at first when they come from complete strangers, but something we should hope to get used to, right? Of course right.
Yeah, it was strange to find that people to only read but mentioned my story. I hope there will be more. 🙂
Congratulations on all the reviews. May 2012 bring many more 😀
Thanks, Cate! Here’s hoping.
Very nice, Tony. I’m happy to be on board in the early days!
Thanks, Aaron!
Awesome awesome! (Not so awesome that I misplaced an apostrophe. Let’s just say I was SO EXCITED after reading it I wasn’t thinking straight. Which is actually true. But hey.)
Happy new year!
😀 I’m so glad that you liked it, and even better is it made your thinking all muddy. Nice.