"Hlasko's story comes off the page at you like a pit bull."--The Washington Post

"His writing is taut and psychologically nuanced like that of the great dime-store novelist Georges Simenon, his novelistic world as profane as Isaac Babel's."--Wall Street Journal

"Spokesman for those who were angry and beat . . . turbulent, temperamental, and tortured."--The New York Times

"A must-read . . . piercing and compelling."--Kirkus Reviews

"A self-taught writer with an uncanny gift for narrative and dialogue."--Roman Polanski

"Marek Hlasko...