Critical Praise

"[F]resh, funny, quirky"

——Ann Tyler (in a New York Times interview)

"Tragic and madcap"

——Publishers Weekly

"Matthew Sharpe's The Sleeping Father is two novels in one-an imploding-family masterpiece every bit as heart-piercing as The Corrections, and a stylistically thrilling inquiry into the weight of words… It's resplendent with aching absurdities, word salads, inspired semicolon deployment, golden-eared teenage monologues. It's the best thing I hope to read all year-and if it isn't, this will be a very good year indeed... The Sleeping Father is genuine sui generis genius comic family novel writing."

——Village Voice

"Sharpe's arch tone is charmingly at odds with the sprawling, inclusive structure of ''The Sleeping Father.'' His raised-eyebrow formality suggests a host surveying unwanted guests, yet he keeps waving more and more characters in the front door. He's a rare find: an ironist who actually seems to like other people."

——New York Times Book Review (included as an "And Bear In Mind" for four weeks)