"Haunting and beautiful."
New York Times Book Review "Her vision has thrived on…fierce, flesh-conscious desire for transcendence."
Atlantic "Quade demonstrates her command of writing about complex issues of ethnicity and success head-on."
San Francisco Chronicle "[A] polished and potent collection…Rooted deeply in place and ringing with authentic voices, these gripping stories confront the hardest human questions of ... Read morehow to love, trust and forgive."
O, The Oprah Magazine "Each of the ten stories offers a lyrical aria of its own, but together they create the music of generations, of families, and of a people."
Ploughshares "Now that we’ve read [Quade’s] darkly funny investigations into relationships, we can agree: her talent is undeniable."
Marie Claire "Fresh, funny….A gifted storyteller with an eye for quirky, compelling detail….A poised and polished debut."
Dallas Morning News "[Lives] up to even the loftiest of expectations."
Bustle "It’s become cliché to say that a writer’s short stories have the weight of novels, but in Kirstin’s case it happens to be true. Her New Mexico is a crucible where individual desire is forged, lost, and reconstituted amid a backdrop of colliding histories and cultures. The result is as close to flesh and blood as black ink on white paper can come. She is a story writer of searing vision."
Anthony Marra "Kirstin Valdez Quade is a fantastic writer, both stylish and sagacious. The stories here are taut and tense, while at the same time morally complicated, which is to say, they cut sharp and they cut deep. Night at the Fiestas is a book of extraordinary virtuosity."
Justin Torres "A stunning debut. With unflinching honesty and relentless compassion, Kirstin Valdez Quade conjures characters that are uncannily alive. Vibrant, incisive, and wickedly funny, Night at the Fiestas announces the arrival of a fiercely original new voice."
Jennifer duBois "A writer of extraordinary perception, a sharp-eyed truth-teller who renders her characters and the landscapes they inhabit with exquisite care. Each of these marvelous stories illuminates the messy, tender, unexplored borderland inside us all where our finest virtues bleed into our worst faults. A brilliant debut."
Maggie Shipstead Show Less