Gail Vida Hamburg - Author of "The Edge of The World"

Praise for The Edge of the World

"The Edge of the World is a stunning collection of psychologically complex and stylistically sophisticated tales ... With clear-eyed ferocity and a delectable precision, Gail Vida Hamburg brings to life a startling range of characters and presents for our reflection a post-modern fable about a world in upheaval ..." -- Askold Melnyczuk, author Ambassador of the Dead, House of Widows, and What Is Told.

“The Edge of the World is surprising in its ambition, breadth, wisdom, and subtlety. Gail Vida Hamburg has written a remarkable book. She is perceptive about both men and women, their foibles and failures, and their desires and tragic delusions. I am full of admiration." -- Sheila Kohler, author Bluebird or the Invention of Happiness, Crossways, One Girl, and Cracks.

"The Edge of the World is an imaginative, bold, and exciting novel by a principled writer. There's a satirical edge to this work of fiction that makes it particularly delectable, but the humanity and feeling in Hamburg's characters is never sacrificed to satire ..." Alice Mattison, author In Case We're Separated, The Book Borrower, Men Giving Money Women Yelling, The Wedding of the Two-Headed Woman.

"The Edge of the World is a most compelling book. I started it one morning and read to the very least word without every getting up. The lives that unfold are so subtle and layered, so demanding of attention, that I didn't want to move away from them. Together they add up to a remarkable "civilization" and force us to consider what America has done to islands at every edge of the world since the Kennedy era. The author's sense of place and power of description can make you feel every pain and erotic longing as if your own. This is a must read--especially before the 2008 election. There is a moral dimension to these stories that beg us for compassion." amazon review.

" A juicy, lyrical read with bite. The Edge of the World is a vividly crafted, engaging collection of stories that, together, tell a devastating tale of the cause and effects of American aggressions. Each story is set in Chomumbar, a fictional island nation that rings so true that I felt slightly embarrassed to be ignorant of its existence. The characters are rendered with cutting wit and delicacy, so that even an oppressive dictator demands our empathy. Hamburg does not let us off the hook. Exquisite." amazon review.

"This beautiful book [The Edge of the World] is a harrowing and profoundly moving biography of an invented island nation-state in the Indian Ocean, as told through a cast of its nationals, immigrants and visitors. Spanning forty years, it brings to life the very real impact of international politics, specifically American intervention and influence, through interconnected stories that link various characters together in original and unexpected ways. Smart, acerbic, touching, and surprisingly humorous, this is necessary reading for those who like their fiction to resonate like life: straight up, no chaser. Stunning." amazon review.

" The Edge of the World is mordant, blistering and beautifully told. Like a verbal fugue, this chain of interconneceted short stories has the richness and strangeness of a truly original work. It may remind some in its lurching between real and adoptive homelands of Kirin Desai's work but the tone is, to me, more interesting -- tougher, less inflected with the consciously exotic and more unsentimental. This is a must read." amazon review.