Graybar Hotel

«With his first story collection, The Graybar Hotel, Curtis Dawkins has given noir a new, darker niche . . . furiously funny, full of poetic punches and tinged with a surrealism born of doing time, killing time, despairing over time. He catches the taut rhythms and indigenous argot of inmates, as well as their fragile hopes and febrile dreams»

«A debut collection that is compelling and real . . . Remarkable for its modesty, realism and humanity . . . He has produced a book that is not only moving and genuine, but genuinely important; one that, without resorting to shock tactics, powerfully conveys the perverse inhumanity of mass incarceration»

«Dawkins's speciality in his writing is as much the mundanity of prison life as the unexpected . . . An engrossing introduction to a stark universe that can only come as a shock to those who have to navigate it for the first time for real»

«A dazzling debut . . . The gritty, gripping and grimly comic stories . . . draw the reader in with the sweep of their humanity and empathy»

«In each of his stories, he depicts the gritty reality of life caged up. Often unapologetic and always moving, Dawkins gives voice to a group of people forgotten by society»

«This is an assured and ultimately humane collection . . . The prose is sparse and precise yet brimming with resonance and meaning, and there is a seam of deathly dark humour running through the stories. An impressive and authentic glimpse at a world most of us will thankfully never know»

«The effect is fascinating, like conveying the wonder of a fable with the force of a fist»

«The stories in The Graybar Hotel are astonishing, clever and true. It's the best collection I've read in a long, long time»

«Rarely have I read a book that takes you so vividly into a hinterland at once hellish and humane, brutal and tender. A literary testament to the indomitability of the human spirit and the primacy of the creative act»

«Dawkins writes with emotional clarity and attention to detail »